Not exactly
by ArizonaSivy
Summary: A nomad lion travels to the famous Pridelands only to find out that the situation there is actually much different from what he'd heard… Takes place in the time after Simba's Pride.
1. Exiled

**AN: Okay, so I now declare myself officially addicted to writing fanfics… During my winter break I got this idea- until now, I have mostly been writing according to the canon of the LK movies. Well, this time I did a little experiment and TURNED THE FREAKING CANON INSIDE OUT using my nefarious mind.**

**So here's chapter 1, I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Chapter 1 – Exiled<p>

Don't worry, they said. It's no shame, they said… We still love you and wish you all the best on your way…

What a load of buffalo crap!

How can being kicked out of your own pride be no frickin shame? I'm telling you, every time I think about it I get seriously pissed. I don't care if it's tradition! How can they think that I would be just a useless burden? Wasn't I born there? And nobody ever complained! Besides, I'm already old enough to hunt! I could be helpful! Gah, I just have to put it out of my mind or it's going to give me a headache…

They were all like- 'go find yourself a pride as soon as possible'. Well, I couldn't argue with that. After a week I was totally fed up with unsuccessful hunts and having to feed on stinking carrion. But where could I go? Of course, everybody recommended the Pridelands.

Yeah, the famous Pridelands, the so-called 'lion paradise'… You wouldn't believe how many rumors I had heard about that place. But was anybody from my pride ever there? No. All we knew was rumors brought by other animals. You know the story- it's a lion kingdom, a classical monarchy. Many years ago, at least according to gossip, the king was murdered by his evil brother, that afterwards took the throne, introducing hyenas to live together with his pridemembers. This tyrant was later overthrown by the son and heir of the previous king, and his hyena army is said to have betrayed him and eaten him alive. The new monarch ruled peacefully and even had a cub, until a pride of lionesses, loyal to the overthrown dictator, who had been previously exiled, started a war against him… Blah blah, I don't know if this sounds more like Shakespeare or some kind of medieval soap-opera. But why am I telling you this? You probably know those legends better than I do! Well, at least the _official_ version of the events… And that is not exactly what really happened. Actually, that story is far from the truth. I found out about this when I went to the Pridelands myself, hoping that it's present king, who was said to be peaceful and just, would accept me into his pride. And you have no idea how shocked I was when I finally got there!

Oh, and by the way. The name's Fisi. It's a swahili name that means 'hyena'. I guess it perfectly shows what kind of respect did my former pridemembers have for me… You ever wonder why do lions give each other swahili names, even though they don't speak it? Go on and figure that out if you can, I failed on that myself. But that's not what I was going to talk about! Anyway, here's the story of what I've experienced in the Pridelands, and I assure you that it's going to be significantly different from what you've been told.


	2. Surprising new Environment

**AN: Whoa man! I didn't expect such a positive response to less than 600 words of text… Seams that some of you have become my faithful readers! Thanks you guys! I will try not to disappoint you and publish new material every 2 or 3 days. Enjoy! XD**

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><p>Chapter 2 – Surprising new Environment<p>

I approached the Pridelands from the west. At first it seamed that the rumors I had heard were actually true- in the distance there was quite a fertile little piece of savannah, undoubtedly inhabited by hordes of tasty gazelle and buffalo and whatever. Right, unfortunately the rumor about a huge gorge that set the border of that supposed paradise was also true. Not really happy about that fact, I carefully slid down the almost vertical wall, not wanting to take the time to go around. The canyon was filled with shallow water- I thought that it were probably the remains of a river that used to flow there. A river in which the famous, murderous leader of the pride loyal to the land's former dictator had drowned… at least as well as I could remember the stories. I took a quick look around and remembered, that this would also be the same place where the rightful king had been killed by his brother in a wildebeest stampede. It was actually quite exciting to really _be_ in a place almost every lion in Africa spoke legends about. But I had no time for meditations, so I started to look for a way to exit that damn gorge. Somehow I managed to find a tight path through the rocks, and voila- there I was. The famous Pridelands were open before me, bathing in the sun. It was great- I could see herds of giraffe and zebras roaming the area, and of course probably the most luxurious lion den there ever was- Pride Rock, reaching out towards the sky. A beautiful picture, one could say. And so I did, happy that I finally got there… but once I went a little deeper into the land, I noticed that something wasn't right. Namely, I felt the stink of hyenas. Strange, because I heard that the new king kicked the canine army of the former ruler out of the neighborhood as soon as he took the throne. After a short walk, not only did I smell those ugly mutts, but I saw a few of them, sitting there and polluting the landscape. I was already concerned, but what made me even more disturbed was a terrible mistake I made- I carelessly let the hyenas spot me. As soon as they saw me, they made a run for it towards Pride Rock, barking at each other about what I could not understand. Now that was simply fabulous- a paradise with hyenas in it was no paradise at all. I thought that somebody had lied to me, and you have to understand I became quite angry, but it was already too late to turn back. So, throwing curses all around, I continued my road towards Pride Rock. And man, was I ever surprised to see a welcoming committee! Surprised rather negatively, as I was quickly surrounded by more than a dozen slobbering, growling and stinking spotted mutts. Now the fact that my name means 'hyena' doesn't change anything. I still hate those stupid, laughing bastards. Fortunately enough, I saw that they were lead by a lioness. That gave me hope that I still might not get mauled to death… Yeah, so you just try to imagine the conversation I had with that interesting female.

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><p>The nomad lion stood surrounded by a pack of hungry hyena guards, with no chance to escape. He was either really bold or totally stupid to just cross the borders of the kingdom like that. The canine soldiers usually didn't waste their time and took care of any trespassers swiftly, but this time the patrol that saw him was a little too small, so they decided to go and call for some reinforcements first. Seeing the commotion, the king's daughter became curious and decided to go check out what was actually going on. Now she stood among the hyenas, eyeing the young lion calmly yet suspiciously. He was scared out of his mind, but still he tried out for an awkward smile.<p>

-_Heh-heh…_ - started Fisi nervously. – Now this is a nice sight… a lioness leading a pack of canines… Talk about being a king of beasts, eh?

-_Shut up_! – the female growled with irritation. She frowned, not sure if she should let the short-maned trespasser explain himself or rather watch her soldiers rip him apart. Good thing he didn't say anything to her when she was making her discernment- if he started to beg for his life, he would occur too pathetic to let him continue his existence. – You're not an Outsider. What are you doing here? – she continued, giving him a curious gaze.

-Well I, I… - he gulped. – I'm a nomad. A rogue, so to speak. I haven't got a pride of my own…

-_Puh!_ – the lioness snorted and rolled her eyes. – And I suppose you're looking to join?

-Y-yeah! I've heard many stories about the magnificent Pridelands…

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, nomad-boy! – she ordered him to silence with a gesture of her paw. The hyenas laughed uncontrollably. – What makes you think that my father would want you to join our pride?

The young male's eyes widened. Did she just mention to be the daughter of the king? He simply couldn't believe how lucky he was.

-Wait… - he said, smiling. – Are you trying to tell me that you're the princess of the Pridelands? Isn't your name Kiara?

The reaction of the lioness and her henchmen was something he didn't expect. He heard her roar, and moments later he laid on the ground under the weight of a dozen hyenas, feeling their sharp claws scratching his skin. In front of him he saw bared fangs, and an angry pair of blue eyes.

-_What_ did you just call me? – growled the female, looking like she was ready to kill someone. Fisi took a deep breath before he was able to answer.

-W-what? What? Aren't you a princess?

-Of _course_ I am a princess, you idiot! That's not what I'm talking about!

The lion began to understand… and that made fear fill his heart like a dark cloud.

-What's your name, then? – he whispered.

The lioness hid her teeth and adopted an expression of irritation mixed with deep astonishment.

-Vitani. My name is Vitani.

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><p><strong>AN: Oh, the tension! <strong>

**You might want to get used to the shifting narration, cause I'm going to use it often later in the story.**


	3. The Audience I

**AN: I really gotta thank you guys for all the tips and pointers you're giving me… First of all, I was deeply shocked to find out that hyenas are NOT canines! Yeah, they're from the suborder called 'felinoformia', that makes them related more to cats than dogs… Disney lies, man…**

**So I made a few changes in my writing. If you have any other remarks, go right ahead and comment.**

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><p>Chapter 3 – The Audience, part I<p>

Fisi's POV:

Man, you simply have _no _idea how that cheeky royal kitten scared me! I'm telling you, surrounded by those hyenas and beginning to understand just how utterly wrong all the legends I had heard about the Pridelands were, I almost freaked out. _Almost_, I said. Imagine- there I was, lying on the ground in front of princess Vitani, a lioness that looked more like a big male with his mane shaved off everywhere besides that tuft on her forehead, and I had the audacity to get her name wrong! A million questions appeared in my head- so, if Vitani calls herself a princess then what about Kiara? Did I simply fail to memorize the names correctly? And in that case, who was the king? Was it the righteous, brave Simba, son of the great Mufasa, or maybe… Maybe the ones who spread all these informations about what had taken place in the Pridelands were making most of it up rather than telling the truth? Whether I liked it or not, I was soon to find out.

Anyway, Vitani was pissed to the limit, but still decided not to take any actions without her father's authorization. Frickin daddy's girl… So she ordered me to get up and lead me to Pride Rock, with the hyenas as guards. I was able to ask her a few questions on the way, and even though she answered reluctantly, treating me more like the dirt beneath her paws, I still had the chance to widen my knowledge a little.

My first question was if she had any siblings. _Yeah_ – she groaned. I took that as a good start for a constructive dialogue, so without hesitation I asked if she by any chance had a brother named Nuka. _Nuka died_ – she growled a second time. Well, at least that was correct with what I had heard. _So what about Kovu?_ – I continued. Unfortunately, this time she did not like the question. I halted, hearing her angry roar. _I don't want to talk about him _– I heard as an answer, and that was it for our conversation.

Continuing the journey, I meditated for a minute about what I was able to find out- the story I knew was that Vitani had attacked the Pridelands along with her mother, but during the battle she switched sides. That helped in ending the conflict with the Outsiders, who later were admitted into the Pridelands pride by the king… But why would she now say that she doesn't want to talk about Kovu, her brother? Did he do something wrong and got exiled once again? And what about Kiara? Did she even live on Pride Rock? Did she even exist? I was soon about to see that for myself, because Pride Rock was exactly the place where Vitani was taking me. And man, was it different from what I'd imagined!

As we were getting closer, one thing really started to frighten me- the hyenas. They were everywhere around, hordes of them. Among their groups every once in a while I saw lionesses with dark, brownish and grayish fur, eyeing me in a way that made me feel without a moment of doubt that I wasn't welcome there. But nothing really made me feel that I've made the biggest mistake in my life coming here until I saw _him_…

Narrator's POV:

The hyena army stood back in order to create a passage. Vitani made a few more steps and sat down on the ground, lowering her head respectfully. Behind her stood a shaking young male lion, not even quite an adult yet. His mane was short and had the color of dry grass. Looking behind him with hesitation, Fisi only found out that his only way of escape was now blocked out by a wall of sneering beasts. He had no choice. He was forced to proceed between the two horrible lines of soldiers, even though he was afraid of what stood at the end of it. In front of him he saw a hunted down gazelle, not quite dead yet, blinking and shaking one of it's legs epileptically while being devoured by a dark furred old lion with a black mane that was already half grey.

"Oh crap. This can't be happening… This isn't good. This is _not _good…" - Fisi whispered to himself.


	4. The Audience II

Chapter 4 – The Audience, part II

_(Narrator)_

-"Father! I brought you the trespasser that has entered our lands." – Vitani made her report.

The old king took the time to finish his meal, and then turned around. His face was smeared with blood, and the young nomad saw his venomous green eyes piercing him. The left one was disfigured by his namesake- an old yet still clearly visible scar. Indeed, his deepest fears had come true. The famous tyrant was still alive, and he was still the king of Pride Rock. But how…?

-"_Hmmm…"_ - the lion purred, lost in his thoughts. Fisi wasn't able to figure out what was actually going on in his head. Did he even want to talk to him? Or was he just meditating over whether he should kill him himself or order his hyenas to do it? The nomad decided not to wait for an answer. He used the only chance he thought he had, and was the first one to speak.

-"F-forgive me, your majesty…" - he lowered his head to the ground, expecting to accept punishment for his boldness, but after he didn't feel any pain, he continued. – "I-I come from… a distant land. I just want to ask you… Are you Scar, king of the Pridelands? Are you really that most… famous feline in all of Africa? The one who putts the 'hell' in 'Hello kitty'? I have heard legends about you…"

After a moment of silence, Fisi dared to lift his eyes. There was no anger in Scar's sight, rather the same, piercing, inquiring gaze. But a while later, a delicate smile appeared on his face.

-"_Of course_ you've heard legends about me…" - he said silently. His voice had a strangely sounding accent to the young trespasser's ears. – "I _am_ Scar. And yes, I _am _the king."

This time Fisi straightened with a little more confidence that he might still see the stars tonight.

-"Oh… well that's… magnificent! I am truly honored to meet you…"

-"And I am truly _not_ honored to meet _you_!" – alas, Scar's voice sounded somewhat irritated, what made the nomad silence and bite his lip. The king looked at him for a longer moment, and then directed his sight towards the formation of rocks where his layer was.

–"_Zira!"_ – he roared forcefully.

Zira… Another name that made Fisi's paws shake with fear. Oh, so Scar's famous psychopathic murderous mate didn't drown after an unsuccessful attack at the Pridelands and was still alive as well? As _queen_ of the Pridelands? Great, he thought. He might as well just kill himself… Moments later, the shape of a lioness appeared from beyond the rocks. When she approached, the hyena army bowed down before her, paying tribute to their master's mate. The young nomad frowned. That old lioness looked like she'd been through everything. Despite her age and her slim build, massive muscles were clearly visible from under her tan fur. And one thing was for sure- she was a perfect pair for the king in terms of scars… They covered her body as if all her life she did nothing more but fight with others. And Fisi thought for a moment that perhaps that might have even been true… When she came up to Scar, she fawned over his raven-grayish mane with a passionate purr before sitting beside him and throwing her gaze towards the trespasser.

-"What is it, Scar? Have you called me to whiteness _another_ execution? Is this brat some kind of spawn from the Outlands?"

The whole hyena army burst out laughing to her words. After such a monologue Fisi was sure that among this pride he couldn't even hope to find love and understanding. So, once again, he decided to try and defend himself.

-"Well, I'm not exactly an Outsider…"

-"Silence, whelp!" – he quickly regretted that, hearing Zira's vicious roar. – "Don't you _dare_ to open you mouth without permission! Your very presence here insults the king and me along with that!"

Unlike his edgy mate, Scar was in a better mood.

-"_Hm-hm…" _- he laughed delicately. – "Oh don't be mad at him, my dear. You see he's still just a cub…" - the queen looked at him, baring her fangs with anger. – "Well anyway my dear, I called you to help me solve this little problem that's occurred. You see, our little friend here is a trespasser. I don't really know why he came here, but judging from his age and nomadic lifestyle, I'd say he's looking to join our pride. Am I right?" – Scar turned his demanding sight towards Fisi. A drop of blood fell from his chin.

-"_Uh-huh…" _- the rogue groaned silently.

-"Good! So I have thought. I must say I can't really blame you for that… Tell you what- you see my daughter over there? She's still single. What say you to the idea of becoming her mate?"

After those words, that were clearly filled with mocking sarcasm, everyone around fell into a frenzy of uncontrollable laughter. The hyenas giggled their minds away, Zira had to grab Scar with her paws in order to not collapse to the ground, the king also was having the best of times laughing at his own joke… Fisi felt almost as humiliated as when he got kicked out of his pride. Besides him, only Vitani wasn't laughing. She just sat patiently, even though the tightening muscles on her cheeks indicated that she was indeed grinding her teeth with fury boiling inside her. When everyone finally silenced, she just gave her father an angry look and growled.

-"You gotta be kidding me…"

Scar barely spoke, tears appearing in his eyes.

-"Oh… oh you know me, Tani… I'm not always strictly _serious_ with what I say. But you're right, enough of this." – With these words, even the hyenas stood up from the ground and returned to their orderly lines. – "I would like to know what my queen thinks about this." – He looked at Zira seriously. The old lioness directed her sight towards the frightened nomad.

-"_Puh!_ I don't see any way he could be useful to us. I say we should feed him to the hyenas!"

Oh crap, thought Fisi, hearing a choir of hungry growls surrounding him.

-"Silence!" – screamed the king. – "_I_ am the one who's going to give you the order!" – once again he turned his eyes to the yellow furred lion in front of him. – "You know, you remind me of someone. Are you sure you're not from the Outlands?"

-"Y-yes. Never been there…"

-"The better for you. If I had any reason not to believe you, well, let's just say that I'd already be back to my gazelle. And you would be in an even worse position than her. Oh, but where are my manners? I have a guest at my royal court and I have forgotten to ask him what his name was. Well, boy? You do have a name, don't you?"

-"F-fisi…"

-"What's that, boy?"

-"My name is Fisi, your highness!"

Scar made a surprised expression.

-"Fisi? You mean your name is… _Hyena_?"

Not giving the rogue a chance to confirm it, the king once again gave away a deep laugh, with his hyenas and pridemembers joining him at once. Fisi was about to crack, he had enough of this humiliation already and he wanted it to stop even if it meant that he had to be killed for it.

-"I… I'm sorry…" - the king continued, trying to control himself. – "I believe I already have enough _hyenas_ in the Pridelands, at least for now. You'll going to have to look somewhere else. I recommend the elephant graveyard, it's straight to the north from here…" - a new wave of laughter raised above Pride Rock. Fisi noticed that all of the commotion has attracted the rest of Scar's lionesses, that were now lying around on the nearby rocks, spectating over what was going to happen. So the king didn't want him here… But did he really want to kill him? That was still something he had to find out.

-"All right, _Fisi"_ – spoke the old lion when everyone had finally settled down. – "Honestly, if it was totally up to me, I would simply let you leave." – Somehow, the nomad had his doubts about that one. – "But you see, my beloved queen Zira here thinks otherwise, and you simply have to understand that I can't let her down like that." – the young rogue saw the royal pair tie their tales together as they gazed at him carefully, what made him almost sure that now he was simply destined to die. – "However, despite what the legends you'd heard might say about me, I really do loathe violence. I simply can't just order the hyenas to rip you apart before my very eyes." – his surrounding army whined with disappointment. – "So here's what we'll do. I'm up for a bit of sport. Me and my pride will ascend to the highest point of Pride Rock in order to see everything clearly. Then I'm going to start counting to ten, to give you a head start. When I'm done, my hyenas will run off it pursuit. If you manage to escape them, you're free to leave. If you don't… oh, must I say anything more?"

Scar looked Fisi straight in the eyes. He was serious. Dead serious. A moment later Zira fawned into the side of his head.

-"Oh my beloved, another thrilling idea was born in that brilliant mind of yours! Let's go! I'm so excited!"

And, without hesitating, the whole royal family lifted up from the ground, smiled mischievously and slowly started to walk towards Pride Rock. Fisi looked around. All that surrounded him now were dozens of grinning, dribbling snouts of hungry hyenas, waiting impatiently for their master's signal. But the young rogue took only about half a second to look at them, and in the second half he was already running in full speed. As he was getting further and further away from Pride Rock, he was still able to hear a silent voice of a lion screaming: '_one_'.


	5. Outside

**AN: I took the idea of counting to ten from 'The jungle book' where Shere Kahn does the same thing with Mowgli. Also Scar, his African cousin with the same accent, starts the counting from one, cause they're both more 'righteous evil' than 'chaotic evil'. More despicable masterminds than postal killers, what makes them more complicated and interesting characters. But enough about Scar for now. Let's see how my little nomad lion did.**

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><p>Chapter 5 – Outside<p>

_(Fisi)_

Scar, man! It was _the _Scar, in the flesh! Can you believe it? I know I barely could when I saw him alive. And from that same moment I promised myself to never believe a single frickin thing I had ever heard about the Pridelands!

It was all as if Simba had never even existed! At that time if someone told me that he was still in some jungle, crying over how he had caused his father's death, I'd be more likely to agree with him. Oh wait, no I wouldn't. Actually, at that time I had other things to worry about than Scar, Zira or even the legendary prince Simba. Now I remember- I was being chased by a whole army of damned hungry hyenas!

I will not tell you much about that truly _thrilling _race. You have to excuse me, but I suppose that my brain simply erased that traumatic moment from my memory. All I can recall is desperately running through the savannah… I have no idea how long I ran, but I'm sure that the distance was far beyond a normal lion's stamina. And I'm not saying this to boast! I was scared out of my bloody mind! Finally, I saw a river in front of me, so I decided to use the rest of my strength to cross it somehow. If I had tried to swim across it then, I know that that would be the last bad decision in my life. Luckily, not far away I saw an old log, acting like a bridge to the other side. So I ran across it… and collapsed at the other bank, totally worn off. Even as I saw that the hyenas had already been close, I simply couldn't move a muscle anymore. Of course, they were simply _delighted_ seeing their victim helplessly lying on the river shore. With a sense of victory and impatient to get their prize, namely my tasty lion flesh, they stepped onto the log and started to cross the river one after another. Stupid bastards. Once the third or fourth one of them put his paw on the rotten wood, the natural bridge started to crack. I tell you, you should have seen the looks on their faces… When they all fell into the water with a big splash, I felt that victory was indeed mine.

And I became simply positive about that when I saw as the unfortunate mutts were being one by one eaten by the river crocodiles.

When their gruesome yelps finally silenced, I passed out of exhaustion and stress. The dream I had was a whole lot more pleasant than everything I had experienced that day. Before me I saw a nice, young lioness, as beautiful as a mirage, with dark brown fur and emerald green eyes… Now you have to understand my shock when I woke up and realized, that the same fine young female was actually standing there right in front of me! I thought I was going to pinch myself… I must have looked awful, because when I saw her, the expression on her face was something like a mixture of fear and disgust. I remember she came close to me and asked me if I was okay. I can't quite recall what I said as an answer, I believe it was some curse word. So she started to encourage me to get up and move away from the river bank, because there were crocodiles there and it was dangerous. Raising from the mud, I bluntly explained her that the crocodiles have already had dinner today.

And so we spent the rest of the afternoon together. She helped me get myself back in shape and even caught a mouse for me to eat. I gotta tell you, she was _really_ nice… She told me that her name was Upendi, and man, was I ever glad to finally meet somebody I'd never heard of before! She explained that after crossing the river, I was now in the area known as the Outlands, and she was from the pride of lions who were called the Outsiders. I preferred not to ask too many questions, only not to stress myself with the answers I could get, so I just told her all about myself. She was deeply worried when I mentioned about my recent visit to the Pridelands, especially when I said that I was taken before king Scar. She was surprised that I was even still alive after that, but to be honest, I'm still quite surprised myself!

So anyway, after I regained my strength, she asked me if I wanted to spend the night over where she lived. Well, I was flattered by the proposition and accepted it, naturally… Shame it wasn't quite what I imagined it to be…

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><p><strong>AN: As cliché as it was in 'Simba's pride'… but what the hell- what's a story without some boy-girl motives? So is the young lioness with the most predictable of names going to be predictable as well? If Scar lives in the Pridelands, then who lives with her in the Outlands? You can already start guessing.<strong>


	6. Termites

Chapter 6 – Termites

_(Fisi)_

Of course it had to be a giant termite mound… But _why_ did it have to be a giant termite mound? Why did only the annoying parts of the stories I had been told turn out to actually be true? As I said before, I preferred not to ask.

I even stayed silent when Upendi told me that she first had to ask the _king_ if he would give me permission to stay there throughout the night. _Another_ king? And who might that be, Mufasa? Or maybe the ghost of Mufasa or any other until-recently deceased and legendary characters? As I said, I preferred not to ask.

My new friend became concerned about why I kept silent, but I just answered that it was simply because I was 'so excited' to meet the ruler of the Outlands. And so we came to the termitary. Around it there were some lionesses resting, each with bright, goldish fur quite similar to mine. I noticed that Upendi didn't look as if she was related to them. They became alarmed at the sight of me, just as the Pridelanders before, and one of them approached her young pridesister to ask what was going on. She quickly explained how she had found me by the river, and after a minute of close study, the lionesses agreed to escort us to the king. Man, was I ever up to meeting another king today… Anyway, here's how it looked like.

_(Narrator)_

The termite mound was one of the largest ones around, and the Outsiders used it as their den, even if they did it more from necessity than out of comfort. It actually looked more like a big cave, with deep caverns and long corridors that provided shelter from the scorching sun, but it was still mostly infested by it's annoying little native inhabitants. Fisi had to be really careful not to step on them when he entered the layer, accompanied by Upendi and the other lionesses from her pride. In the center of the mound there was something like an old, dried up tree stump sticking from the ground. The young rogue was surprised to find a late-middle aged male lion sitting on top of it, using it kind of like a throne. That had to be the king- he thought. When he stood in front of him, he felt his brown eyes observing him carefully.

-"What's this all about, Upendi? Who is this lion and why did you bring him here?" – he asked, suspiciously.

-"Oh please don't be mad, grandfather! He's a rogue, I found him by the river. Hyenas were chasing him and he passed out…"

-"I knew that I should make a leash for you, just like I should have done for your mother!" – the king interrupted her, visibly irritated. Fisi thought that this lion sounded like he was having a headache. About since when he was born. – "Are you sure you're not from the Pridelands, kid?" – he uttered, turning towards the rogue.

-"Well, I… came from that direction, but that's not where I come from, sire."

-"Hm, I hope you're not lying. In that case, you might consider yourself lucky that the hyenas didn't catch you. They kill trespassers on sight, you know."

Fisi breathed with relief, seeing that this king wasn't showing that he wanted him dead for a change. Actually, despite his short temper, he looked a lot more reliable than Scar, with his golden fur and large, brownish mane. At least at first sight. Taking a closer look, the nomad realized that their conversation was actually boring and tiring to the ruler of the Outlands. Irritated, he suddenly slapped the ground with his paw, squashing a large termite, and then… he ate it. Fisi was quite disgusted and shocked with seeing a lion eating bugs, but to the king it seamed an almost routine action. The nomad became really distasteful with the whole situation. Looking around, he saw that the lionesses from the Outlands, maybe apart from Upendi, have all had many scars, some of them even quite deep. He remembered that he noticed the same thing about the Pridelanders. No, this was all just too weird. And he could no longer stand it.

-"Tell me your name!" – he demanded, making the king shiver with surprise, dropping another termite. The older lion grinned.

-"Ha! I should be the one to demand _you_ to introduce yourself first…"

-"I'm Fisi, pleased to meet you. Now tell me your _name_!"

The smile on the king's face disappeared. He looked towards his granddaughter, sending her a rebuking gaze.

-"You see? I knew you shouldn't have brought him here!"

Upendi adopted a begging expression.

-"Oh _please_, don't make him leave!" – she immediately turned to Fisi, putting her paw on top of his own and stabbing him with her claws in a warning gesture. She then began to whisper into his ear. – "What's wrong with you? This is Simba, our king, and you better treat him with _respect_!"

Fisi groaned.

-"Simba… _You're _Simba? Son of Mufasa?"

The king still continued to observe him with suspicion.

-"Yeah, that's me."

-"No, no! This isn't right! It's all the other way around! The whole damn story is upside down!"

-"What story?" – Upendi watched him deeply concerned as he seemed to be losing his mind.

-"Well don't you see? You should be the king of the _Pridelands_, not the Outlands!"

Now that was probably the first thing that came from Fisi's mouth that the king actually enjoyed. He laughed out loud and jumped down from his wooden throne, landing in front of the devastated young lion.

-"Don't worry, kid." – he said, fawning at his short mane with a paw. – "The truth is that I _am_ the king of the Pridelands."

Fisi looked at him with disbelief.

-"What? But how _can_ you be? You're here, and over at Pride Rock there is…"

-"My uncle, Scar. I know that. He might have exiled us here, but I am still my father's rightful heir."

-"What do you mean he _exiled_ you? Why didn't you kill him?"

Simba hesitated.

-"It's… a long story…"

The rogue just continued turning his head.

-"I can't understand any of this… Everything I have ever heard is directly opposite to the truth…"

Upendi tried to console him and put her paw around his neck. The king gave her another angry look.

-"Please, grandfather!" – the lioness begged him again. – "Can he just stay here tonight? Maybe tomorrow we'll figure everything out."

Simba sighed.

-"I must be out of my mind… very well, but tell your parents keep an eye on him. And I only permit him to stay tonight. If he wants to be here for a longer time, he's gonna have to prove himself useful to the pride."

-"I can hunt…" - Fisi whispered.

-"Well good for you, then. You might ask my mate tomorrow to let you join the huntresses."

The king turned around and jumped back on his stump, obviously intending to go to sleep. But after a short moment he heard the rogue's voice again.

-"Uh, your majesty?"

-"Yeah? What is it, Fisi?"

-"I-is your mate's name… Nala?"

-"Yes, my mate's name is Nala."

-"Good! That's all I wanted to know for now."

A loud sigh came from the top of the throne.

-"Go to sleep, kid… It's getting late, and I'm getting really tired."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So you're probably thinking- 'oh, so <em>that's<em> how he turned the cannon inside out! Scar's alive and lives at Pride Rock, and Simba was the one who got kicked out to the Outlands!' Yup, that's right. But how did that happen? That, and other surprises along with it, are still to be revealed. And I can tell you that the past events were so severe, that even Scar and Simba's characters got deeply affected, as you may be seeing already…**

**Oh, and yeah. The 'Upendi' song_ is_ corny.**


	7. Explanations

Chapter 7 – Explanations

_(Fisi)_

I really should be walking around with an autograph book!

Just imagine that right after I met Simba, the king of the Outlands and/or Pridelands, Upendi decided to introduce me to her family before the end of the day. I wondered about who I would meet this time, and so I followed her to one of the caverns in the termitary. When I saw her father exiting the shade… I almost got a heart attack! Right in front of me I was seeing Scar again! Well, at least it seamed that way. The lion had the same dark mane and green eyes with a deep cut across the left one. He looked at me abashed as I shook at the sight of him… but then I noticed than he only strongly resembled the tyrant form Pride Rock, not exactly being him. Yeah, you guessed it- that was Kovu, Zira's son. And again, opposite to what I'd heard, also the son of ol' king Scar...

I was actually surprised to see him living in the Outlands, but I was simply too tired to demand him to explain that to me. So I just swiftly greeted him, and let Upendi review to her father why I was there and that Simba had permitted me to stay. The dark lion, who's mane turned out to be more deeply brown than black like Scar's, acted politely and with a lot more trust than the king. He let me enter his layer and introduced me to his mate. I was strongly relieved to see a quite young, yellowish lioness whose name was Kiara. That corresponded with my knowledge, so I became a little calmer, especially when Upendi's mother also turned out to be nice to me. She was holding a small, sleeping cub that was no more than a few months old, which would strongly resembled her, if it wasn't… well, one of those famous 'white lions'. You know, an albino. Upendi told me that it was her little brother, Moja, but we didn't have much time to talk about that. The adults were exhausted after a day of hunting, so I just settled myself in the corner of the cavern and let everyone go to sleep. I'd also had enough adventures for one day.

The next morning I had the opportunity to meet Nala- Simba's mate, the mother of Kiara and the rightful queen of both the Outlands and the Pridelands. I gotta tell you this- as majestic as that middle-aged lioness looked, she also made an impression of being a hard-core huntress, with her large muscles and, of course, a big collection of scars. She wasn't aggressive towards me, but still she was consistent with Simba's opinion, that if I wanted to stay with the Outsiders, I had to prove myself during a hunt. She was the leader of the hunting pack, and she quickly informed me that getting food occurred extremely hard in these lands. Man, was she ever right! We spent half of the day just trying to find any prey at all in that dry, bare near-desert. When we were preparing the ambush, I noticed that not all of the pride was to participate in the hunt. The fact that the king stood by did not surprise me, but also Kiara and Upendi decided to stay with the cubs. Did they all lack the proper skills? Whether that was true or not, I decided to do my best. Nala was well experienced in setting up a strategy, and not long after the lionesses managed to scare a single zebra away from it's heard. The queen rushed in to grab it, and so she did. Kovu and I helped her in bringing the animal down. I noticed that the Outsiders all looked a little malnourished, and seemed to need a little more brawn in their pride. Kovu was pretty strong, but still I thought I could be useful as well. Simba was happy to see my efforts, and he let me join them at the meal. The meat was hardly enough for everybody, but we all got our share.

Later the Outsiders laid down in the shade in order to take an afternoon nap, but I wasn't sleepy. I came up to Nala, who was standing guard, and managed to gain a lot of useful information from her. She had been with the pride since the beginning, even when they were still one with the Pridelanders, and she was a veteran of what they called the 'battle at Pride Rock'. She explained to me that most of what I have heard about their history until that tragic moment, was actually true. Simba really was the son and heir of king Mufasa, and he lived at Pride Rock when they were both cubs. But his uncle, Scar, became jealous of his brother's position as king, and that after Mufasa had a son he would no longer have a chance to inherit the throne. So he lured Simba to the gorge, started a stampede and caused his brother's death while he was attempting to save his son. Then he tricked the cub to believe that he was the one responsible for the stampede, ordered him to run away and sent the hyenas to kill him.

Yeah, but we all know that, so where do the differences begin? Well, let me explain. Simba had indeed survived and spent most of his young life away in the jungle, while Scar took over the Pridelands and let the hyenas live there. But that wasn't the biggest problem at all. In fact, Scar had ended a great conflict between the two races, that had been waging their brutal war for generations. Nala told me that at first the Pridelanders were shocked about it, but later they realized that the same hyenas, who had been attacking them earlier, were now providing protection for the lions, even if they were still annoying, greedy and dumb. Obtaining food became a problem, but finally Sarabi, Simba's mother and the leader of the hunting party at that time, demanded that Scar ordered the hyenas to catch their own prey as well. Though reluctantly, the impostor king finally agreed, and so the burden of hunting for a whole army of hyenas was lifted from the lionesses. A time of relative peace began, as the number of game was indeed enough for everyone. I thought about that for a second. It was actually logical- if the hyenas somehow managed to exist before they were relocated to the Pridelands, why would that fact cause a sudden famine?

And so after that, Scar became a little more respected among his pridemembers, who were still oblivious to the fact how he had actually managed to take over the throne. Some of the lionesses even became loyal to him, and among those was also his mate. Namely Zira, who Scar made his queen.

So everything was okay until a great drought haunted the land. Now that was a real problem- without enough water, much of the animals have died, including Nala's mother- Sarafina. The herds have moved on to more fertile lands, and the amount of food became critical. Queen Sarabi almost begged Scar to let the pride leave too, but he was far from abandoning his kingdom. So, when the situation became desperate, Nala decided to sacrifice herself and go look for help beyond the borders of the Pridelands. I remember I always admired her for that, even when I just heard stories about her bravery. Now I was happy to hear that they were true. So anyway, Nala was lucky enough to find Simba, who everyone had thought to be dead, living in the jungle. She convinced him to come back to Pride Rock with her… but what happened there was a totally different story from what I'd heard. Sure, Simba faced Scar and managed to make him confess he murdered his brother, king Mufasa… but that was actually only the easy part.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for such a long break in publishing… It's Lent, so let's just call it fasting.<strong>

**So the story is getting more and more clear. I kind of tried something like making the original script a little more logical. In my version, after taking the throne, Scar decided let go of the idea of making 30-or-something lionesses hunt for a hundred-or-something hyenas. This way his kingdom became a little more sustainable, and using his skillful propaganda, he made it the reason why some of the lionesses actually started considering him a good ruler. **

**Okay, but this is only the beginning of the differences! The main cause of the totally different turn of events will be the fact that in my story Kovu actually_ is_ Scar's son… and that_ is_ significant! Also because he is now really his cousin Simba's daughter's mate, which results in certain genetical 'surprises' like his son Moja being a sweet lil' albino… Well what did you expect? I couldn't give him Down's syndrome! This isn't even incest, technically, and Upendi's all fine and healthy. Besides, there is going to be far more trouble than that.**


	8. The Battle at Pride Rock

Chapter 8 – The Battle at Pride Rock

_(Narrator - Flashback)_

The whole bloody place was on fire. Scar had to be really careful not to get burned, and yet he ran with such haste that a few times he felt the flames licking his skin. But he had something a lot more dangerous to worry about- namely, his frantic nephew, who was now chasing him in search of vengeance for the murder of his father.

_Damn it, why did I let him force me to admit I did it_ – he asked himself. – _I should have ordered the hyenas to kill him as soon as he came! _He repeated those words in his head, leaping over new waves of flames that appeared in front of him. Where could he escape? There wasn't a place he could hide, but yet, he ran. At least as long as he could, because soon he found himself at the edge of Pride Rock, looking down at the chasm before him. He turned around, but only to see Simba leaping towards him with fury in his eyes, approaching slowly to carry out his sentence.

-"Murderer!" – uttered the young lion.

_Well bravo, Simba. I just told you that. You never were the clever type… But… You're not going to actually kill your own uncle… are you?_

-"Simba… Simba, please, have mercy, I beg you…" - said Scar, feeling as fear was making his paws shake.

-"You don't deserve to live." – he heard as a frightening answer. His nephew seamed really serious in what he was saying.

Now was time for real swift thinking. _How can I convince him to spare my life? Let's see… I'm the bad guy, he's the good guy… or at least he thinks so. Should I try to get rid of the responsibility? Blame the hyenas, perhaps? No, that would be futile... I have to make him believe that I'm not that bad at all. Yes! That's it!_

-"Simba… I…" - his heart pounded so hard that he was having trouble breathing. – "I… I have a family!"

To his content, Simba hesitated and halting, gazed at his uncle suspiciously.

-"Why should I believe you? All you ever told me was a lie." – he said, not sure of what to do.

-"Please! Much has changed while you were away. I have become… a _father, _Simba. Come with me, there is something I must show you!" – the old lion swiftly rushed from his position, went pass his startled nephew and started to run back from where they both came.

-"_Hold it, Scar_!" - Simba roared behind him, enraged.

But his uncle was already out of his sight, so the lion got up and began yet another pursuit. In the distance, among the light of fire and the blazing battle between lionesses and hyenas, he was able to spot him entering the cave. He got to the den as fast as he could, only to see Scar cornered inside, standing in front of the stone wall with his back turned at him.

-"_What is this? Another trick_?" – he roared, standing in battle position.

And then Scar turned around, revealing what he was surrounding tightly with his paws- something that had been hidden among the rocks. It were three lion cubs, an older one and two newborns. They were all frightened, clutching at their father's fur from which two of them shared the same color. The old lion looked Simba straight in the eyes. His face was calm and passionless.

-"I want you to meet Nuka, Kovu and Vitani. They are your cousins."

My _cousins_? No! That isn't right! – Simba thought. The murderer became a father? And what was he supposed to do now?

-"You see, you cannot kill me. Or maybe you want to make these cubs live the rest of their lives as orphans? But how would you be any different from _me_, then?"

Scar was right. Simba hated that thought, but he was right. He couldn't kill him. But what else could he do? He felt helpless. He wanted to get out of the den and search for an answer in the stars, only that there were no stars- only clouds and smoke.

And then he remembered that he was still in the middle of a battle. The rain started to fall, extinguishing the flames and revealing what was going on. To his shock, on the battlefield below Simba saw not only lionesses fighting hyenas, but also lionesses fighting with _each other_. In fact, the hyenas have mostly retreated, leaving more room for the dueling pridemembers. Simba became petrified, seeing how his family and friends, the ones he had once known, were now brutally biting and slashing others with their fangs and claws.

How could this be? What had happened here? Had Scar manipulated half of his pride to stay loyal to him? He could not believe it. And then he saw Zira, that once annoying and malicious teenager who had always despised him even though he was the future king, as she was viciously attacking her queen and his _mother_!

-"_NO_! Stop it!" – Simba roared, ready to jump down from Pride Rock and go help Sarabi. And then he heard a gruesome voice, addressing him from behind.

-"I can make them stop."

He turned around and saw Scar, lying undisturbed right at the entrance to the den, his cubs still cuddling up his mane with fear.

–"I am still the king here. One word and no one will get hurt anymore. _Surrender_."

Simba turned his head only to spot as Zira was sinking her fangs into his mother's neck, with Sarabi ripping the skin on her opponent's shoulder with her claws.

-"Make it stop, Scar!" – he yelled, desperately. – "Stop it, or they'll kill each other!"

The king laughed. That was enough, victory was his. He stood up from the ground, walked to the very top of Pride Rock, and gave away a long, mighty, triumphant roar.

-"_RAAAH! _Enough of this!"

Simba quickly stood at his side, also wanting to call his half of the pride to cease the battle.

-"_RAAAH! _Please everyone, stop fighting! No one more will die today."

He quickly turned as he heard Scar's silent snicker.

-"_Heh-heh,_ are you sure of that, my _favorite nephew_?"

But the lionesses heard only the first message. They quickly separated, one group standing along with the hyenas, and the other- alone, in front of them. The pouring rain showered them, while they were groaning and observing the wounds they've taken in battle. Some could barely walk. The ones that were in better shape raised their heads to look at the two lions, standing on top of Pride Rock.

-"Two kings?" – asked a hyena.

-"But there can be only one king!" – said another.

-"You stupid mutts, Scar's the king!" – a gray lioness with a slashed eyebrow growled back at them.

The two lions were now closely observing each other. Scar was grinning maliciously, while Simba was still consumed by fury… and insecurity.

-"Go on." – said the older one. – "Run along to mommy. I don't want my cubs to be scarred with seeing their cousin's death."

Simba was shocked. He was actually prepared for a duel, but it seamed that Scar was trying to be… thankful for sparing his life! But could he just abandon the throne like that? Wouldn't that mean betraying his father?

On the other hand, if he decided to fight, the hyenas and Scar's faithful lionesses would kill him along with the rest of his pride.

-"Last chance, Simba." – Scar encouraged him. The lion hesitated for a moment longer, but when he saw his uncle roaring and charging at him, he jumped away and ran down the edge of Pride Rock, joining his friends below. Immediately, Nala and Sarabi were there to nuzzle into his mane. He noticed his mother had been badly wounded... They looked at each other with sadness, only to hear a moment later, that Scar, with Zira already fawning at his side, was saying something addressing them from above,.

-"I don't really know if this is right, but I am going to be as kind as I ever was." – he uttered with distaste. – "Simba has proved to be inappropriate for ruling long ago, when he decided to run away..."

-"Damned liar…" - whispered the young lion, enraged as he observed his uncle speak.

-"For attacking _me_, I should sentence you all to the highest form of punishment! However, since I would really hate to be responsible for the death of _another_ family member, I'm going to give you a chance to choose your own fate. You may all either leave now and never again show your treacherous faces in the Pridelands, or you may also _die_ and get eaten by hyenas. It's your choice."

And so, accompanied by the deafening laughter of hyenas and evil lions, Simba's pride left towards the Outlands, scarred and defeated. Before they got there, Simba had to say farewell to his mother, who died from her wounds, thankful that her son decided to return from the dead to her at least for a moment.

* * *

><p><em>(Fisi)<em>

Nala was very sad when she was telling me the whole story. Well, actually, I kind of felt depressed by it myself. It seemed a damn shame that their plan didn't work out… But then again, the ones that survived the battle were still lucky to be alive! I asked her why didn't Simba take them to the jungle, where the conditions of living would have been much better. She answered, that it wasn't that easy. When they were exiled, most of them were injured and didn't have enough strength for such a long journey. Since the road to the jungle leads through the Pridelands, it became closed for them once they started living in the Oulands. And the king also wasn't in a very good state of mind himself… So this is how they became the Outsiders they were now, struggling to sustain their existence, but still sticking together under Simba's reign.

Back at the Pridelands, the drought soon ended, so with a half less lions and missing the hyenas that got killed, Scar's pride was also able to survive and prosper for years. Somehow however, I felt that it wasn't the end of the story yet. There were still other threads of the legends I had in my mind.

So later I asked Nala if it was true that when Simba ran away after his father's death, he was saved by a meercat and a warthog that raised him to adulthood. She smiled. _Yeah, their names were Timon and Pumbaa_ – she told me. Talk about some weird step-parents… I became interested, so later I asked if they were still around. Nala shook her head. _No, they were killed during the battle at Pride Rock_ – she said gloomily. _They sacrificed their lives to distract the hyenas while Simba and I were searching for Scar and the lionesses._ She also asked me not to talk to the king about that.

Here you go, just your typical turn of the Circle o' Life and Death. Damn, it seams that some stories turn out to be pretty naive when compared with reality…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this is what went wrong...<br>**

**I have once heard that becoming a parent changes much in one's life. Originally in the TLK cannon, Scar was only a step-father, so he didn't care much for anything except his skinny hide. **

**BUT in _my _cannon, having his much younger fanatical queen Zira right there at his side, he just couldn't resist the urge to procreate. So he spawned his three adorable cubs, and when Simba saw them… Oh c'mon! You just can't possibly kill someone who fathered such sweet little lion babies! _Even_ if he had murdered your father… **

**So things got complicated. And they became simply tragic when it turned out that even though Scar revealed his crime of fratricide, half of the lionesses _still_ stayed loyal to him. Is this unlikely? Actually, no. Killing your adversary in order to take his place is something totally normal among lions. Ha!**

**Thus, the result is known. Scar stays at Pride Rock to continue raising his kids, while Simba and the ones loyal to him get kicked out to the Outlands, with Timon, Pumba and Sarabi freakin dead. What a mess! And this is just the beginning…**


	9. Kovu's War

Chapter 9 – Kovu's War

_(Fisi)_

And so I became a rightful Outlander.

I must say that after a few days king Simba was liking me a lot more. And it wasn't even because I helped with the hunts, as there were hardly a few lionesses that had any skill at all, with Nala as the best of them, despite her age. I guess he just enjoyed when I told him the false stories I had once heard about his life, that were a lot more colorful than his reality... He would summon me numerous times to tell him something new, and I was beginning to get bored with it. Simba was kind when he wanted to and his lions had respect for him, but personally I think he was a bit weird with the habit of eating termites and talking to the stars at night. Or maybe it was his father's ghost? Or just the voices in his aging head? I still have no idea.

But the king didn't like everything about me. He got irritated when he saw me hanging out with his daughter's family, especially with his son-in-law. There was some kind of a conflict between them, but it wouldn't be polite if I just asked him about it. Nonetheless, I really liked to spend time with Upendi and I was happy that her parents had nothing against it. They were very nice folks- they really loved each other and their kids too, and Kovu was also a very good hunter, so I guess I kind of became a pupil of his. I enjoyed the hunting lessons he was giving to me and his daughter. Even though it was really hard to find prey in the Outlands and I soon got used to eating rodents and being hungry, Kovu kept cheering me up by saying that my mane was getting bigger every day. Damn, I swear he was almost becoming like a father to me… I liked Kiara as well, even though I was beginning to think that she was the one who needed hunting lessons…

But there were still things about them I couldn't understand, and I simply had to find out and collect all of the elements of my puzzle! So one day I took Upendi to the river. It was probably the only place in the Outlands where you could actually see green grass. So first we caught a few mice for our lunch, we had a little play fight and then laid down to relax. We were both in a good mood, so I decided that this was a perfect time for some investigation. With an innocent voice, I asked her if she could tell me something about her parents. She said okay, so I inquired if she had any idea about why did Simba dislike Kovu so much. _Oh… _- she sighed sadly. – _It's because of the war he and mom started shortly before I was born… _

I suppose you can imagine how that answer shocked me! So without further ado, I give to you Upendi's relation about what the Outsiders call 'Kovus war'.

* * *

><p><em>(Upendi)<em>

Okay, I don't really like to talk about it, but since you live with us, Fisi, I think you deserve to know. I'm just gonna give you a general overview of the whole story, cause it all happened before I was even born yet.

So this might be hard to believe, but my dad really is the son of Scar, and he and Zira are my grandparents. Some ancestors, huh? Anyway, after the battle at Pride Rock, the old impostor king decided to make his second son inherit the throne instead of the first one. My father used to tell me how his parents had trained him to be strong and whatever, but still wanting him to be ruthless and coldhearted like them. Well, dad never actually used the words 'ruthless' and 'coldhearted', but I think that's what he meant. So he was the heir, the chosen one, precious to his father who wanted him to walk in his pawprints and carry on his dark legacy. I also know that Scar's first son, my uncle Nuka, didn't like that and so he would always be jealous of my dad and get mad at him. Kind of like Scar was to king Mufasa once, don't you think? Some folks just never learn.

So when everything seamed to have settled down, when my mom grew up here in the Outlands and dad over at the Pridelands, everything changed with one accidental meeting. You know, it actually reminds me of the way we met. Isn't that weird? Or you can also call it _romantic,_ if you prefer. So here's how it was.

When my mom finally became old enough to hunt, the pride decided that it was time for her to try and catch something by herself. Unfortunately, all of her attempts failed, and she became worried that she might have to come back to the mound with empty paws. But then she remembered something- her parents used to tell her stories about the fertile and rich lands in which they used to live once, that were just at the other side of the river. So she crossed it, despite that king Simba had always warned her never to do that, and that was the first time she ever visited the Pridelands. Well, my grandfather was actually right, and I always shiver when I try to imagine what would happen if mom didn't have as much luck as she did that day.

Obviously, she was quickly spotted by hyenas guarding the borders, who surrounded her and were close to ripping her apart as a punishment for trespassing. Thank goodness there was also a young lion leading the patrol, and that was my dad. Kind of like you met up with aunt Vitani, huh? So dad sent the hyenas away, as he felt that the female Outsider named Kiara was more attractive to him alive. If there is something like love at first sight, I think that was it. They spent some time with each other that day, but unfortunately the hyenas told everything to Scar. He got pissed and went to deal with the matter himself, and when dad saw him, he told his new friend to run back home. At first she didn't want to, demanding him to promise that they were going to meet again, and so he did. Left alone to face his father's fury, my dad tried to explain himself, but there was nothing he could do about Scar's stupid anger. He beat him and said that if he ever tries to see Kiara again, he will never become the king. Dad was sad, because he'd been trained for that all his life. Mom on the other hand returned to the Outlands and didn't tell anything to anyone.

After a few days, late at night, my parents saw each other again, and so they began secretly meeting as often as they could. I believe they did it somewhere around the river, who knows, maybe in the same spot that we're lying now? Anyway, not long after, my mom… well, you know. She became pregnant. I guess I caused quite a lot of trouble before even being born… So my parents knew that since they weren't able to keep it a secret forever, they had to make a choice. They finally decided to live together in the Outlands, away from the venomous effect Scar and Zira might have had for their children. Mom was flattered that a prince decided to abandon the throne for her, and she thought that maybe her father would let my dad join his pride, and as he was the princess' mate, become his heir instead. And so they went to see king Simba… But grandpa wasn't very happy to see his daughter pregnant with a Pridelander... In fact, he became furious and exiled them, calling their relationship treachery and 'an inbred abomination to the royal bloodline of king Mufasa'. Yeah, that's exactly what he said! My parents were devastated, they didn't know what to do… Even despite grandma Nala's opposition, the king was absolutely positive. And so they had to leave.

But where in the world could they go? The only place were the Pridelands, but dad didn't want to risk taking his pregnant mate to face Scar and an army of hyenas. So he left her by the river and went to Pride Rock himself, determined to convince his father, using the argument of being his precious heir. Dad says that at first Scar was actually happy that he was going to be a grandfather again, especially that this time his 'better' son was the one to father cubs, but when he and Zira heard who was the _mother_… Well, let me just say that it was really a good idea to leave mom away from the Pridelands when he told them that.

Again, mom and dad's love met with anger and rejection, but this time it was worse than ever. Did you notice the scar on my dad's eye? Zira did that to him after he confessed to love an Outsider princess. Shocked, he ran away from them, even though they ordered him to stay and forget about his mate. But before he left, they promised to kill all of the Outsiders if he didn't submit. Enraged, Scar ordered Zira to take every lion in their pride and go carry out his order, himself being too cowardly to engage in another battle, so he stayed at Pride Rock along with his hyenas.

So dad found mom again and told her about what had happened. He new his mother was on her way to destroy king Simba's pride. My parents couldn't just leave them to die, so they decided to go and warn them. When they showed up in front of my grandfather, he saw dad's wounded eye and recognized him as Scar's son… He became furious, but when they explained that there was no time for anger and that all of the Outsiders had to prepare for the upcoming fight, Simba was petrified. Grandma Nala had to convince him to make a wise decision, just as she had done years ago in the jungle… They knew there was nowhere to run, so they decided to go meet with the Pridelanders and maybe talk with them to prevent the slaughter somehow…

At that time one of the few ways to cross the river dividing the two kingdoms was a giant wooded dam that separated the Zuberi river from the great gorge. It had been raining intensively for days, and the dam was close to falling under the weight of water, but still that was the place where the two prides met. It was their first encounter for years… And they were all filled with mutual hate as if _nothing_ had changed during that time! My parents were the only Pridelander and Outlander to ever love each other. Imagine, that as soon as these lions saw the other group, no-one wanted to talk anymore.

Oh, it's so horrible when I think about it! At the other side of the dam, my father saw his mother, brother and sister, but they'd already rejected him. They wanted him dead, Fisi! Can you understand that? My pride wasn't any better too- grandpa and grandma just wanted to get back at Zira for being responsible for the death of queen Sarabi and everything they'd experienced during the battle at Pride Rock and later… There were no hyenas now, so all that remained was blind revenge. When the fight began, my parents were probably the only ones to oppose. Oh, I don't even want to think about that! My father later told me how many lions had died that night… It were definitely too many.

But the rain kept on filling the overflowing river, so soon it became obvious that the dam was about to collapse. The generals ordered their pridemembers to retreat… Only one of them stayed behind. That was my father's brother, Nuka. He always hated him because dad was chosen by Scar to be the heir, even though he was only second in line according to tradition. So my uncle was too late to run away from the battlefield. The river ripped the dam apart right under his paws. Nuka died, leaving a mate and their two small cubs. My parents were both left in the Outlands.

Sorry, but I think you can figure out the rest of the story yourself. I'm beginning to feel really bad. Let's just go home, okay?


	10. Kovu's War 2

Chapter 10 – Kovu's War 2

_(Fisi)_

Darn, I felt so bad for making Upendi tell me the story about Kovu's war! We were having such a good time together, and remembering that tragedy just spoiled her mood… She said she's not mad at me, but still she decided to go back to the termitary.

On the way, I realized that now I understood the conflict between Kovu and king Simba. But why did they still keep arguing about that after such a long time? It was really nobody's fault that the Pridelanders attacked them. What could Kovu and Kiara do? Split up? Abandon each other? But then Upendi wouldn't have been born, and that would be a shame…

Well, at least the king tolerated their existence in the Outlands, despite still treating them with coldness and resentment. When we entered their cavern back at the mound, Upendi told me that she wanted to go play with her brother Moja. The albino cub was getting bigger every day, he had recently been weaned and was already fully a little carnivore. I decided it would be better to let her go clear up her mind for a while…

Her father saw us and when she left, he asked me about her bad mood. I was a little scared that he might think I'm not being the right company for his daughter… So I quickly explained that everything was fine, just that we talked about what had happened when he and Kiara met each other. Kovu sighed, but wasn't angry with that. He also thought that I should know. Later he explained to me a little more about the war between the Pridelanders and the Outlanders from his own point of view.

* * *

><p><em>(Kovu)<em>

For years I have felt responsible for what had happened… Now I'm starting to understand that the cause of this stupid hostility is much deeper.

Scar might be my father, but I'm ashamed of some things he had done during his life. Of course, you know that he'd killed his brother to take the throne… Simba wanted to overthrow him, but he lost the battle at Pride Rock- he just couldn't kill my father after he saw my siblings and me. Eh, I still can't imagine what a horrible day that was… many lions died, the pride which was once a strong family got divided over who they wanted as their kings. Simba's followers got exiled over here, to the Outlands, and Scar was left free to rule at Pride Rock.

So later he and my mother raised me to be the heir. I remember that I had enjoyed the thought that I was going to be king- I felt a deep lust for that power inside me, just as my parents did… They loved to be the ruling pair, and I suppose they still do. Simba had told me stories that when Scar was still young, he was jealous of Mufasa being the chosen heir, but he reconciled with the fact that he will never be king. Until he met my mother, that is… I think their relationship was mutually feeding their greed. Perhaps I shouldn't be saying this about my own parents, but I suspect that Zira didn't want Scar to just be the ruler of a small gang of hyenas. I'm not saying she planned Mufasa's assassination herself, but still she might have unconsciously lead to it. My father really does 'love' her in some strange way and had always wanted to satisfy her… So he killed his brother and took the throne, later making Zira his queen to her biggest content.

They were preparing me to continue their reign, as I was stronger and healthier than my older brother, Nuka. Poor Nuka… I still miss him, even though he was always jealous of me and hated the thought that he was rejected from becoming heir. I wonder how his mate and sons are doing back at the Pridelands… Cause I don't want you to think that we were some kind of dysfunctional family or something! No. We might have argued with each other often, but we were still of the same bloodline. Mother was responsible for our training and I have to admit that she used to be a really good huntress. I suppose my sister is pretty much like her. You met Vitani, right? It's really a shame she always persisted in not having a mate. Oh, how much I would enjoy seeing her, and everyone back at home…

Well, anyway, we all lived a good life back at Pride Rock. My father's earlier crimes were something everyone knew about, but no-one was ever bold enough to talk about it. According to his will, we all just considered it as bad memories from the distant past. There are many things Scar hates, but what really makes him furious is disobedience. When I was young, we were made to whiteness lions from our pride being punished by the king, and sometimes even a hyena had to be executed to keep discipline in their ranks… I can remember the first execution I ever saw was just after the battle at Pride Rock. Three of my father's most trusted generals, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, were killed because they had failed to assassinate the little Simba after king Mufasa's death at the gorge. I was scared out of my mind then, but when I got older, Scar used to force me and my siblings to carry out these sentences ourselves…

_Uhm_…

Yeah. I'm really ashamed about it now, but… I said it wrong. He didn't have to _force_ us to do it. We _wanted_ to do it. You see, this was the effect of my parents' ruthless upbringing. And even when we didn't have to kill anyone, we still had to watch my mother doing it. Man, how she enjoyed killing… She was a monster during a hunt. And also during a battle…

So one day I was routinely patrolling the borders with a team of hyenas. That was my everyday duty, and I have to say that even though those beasts were always stupid and annoying, they provided quite a lot of protection to the pride. This is partially the cause why my former pridemembers decided to stay loyal to Scar. You might think that I'm crazy, but I still consider that the alliance with the hyenas was a smart move of my father. I spent most of my life living with them and even if we had to share our food, it was better to live in peace than to fight with each other. Too bad lions couldn't live in the same way… So anyway, we were close to the Zuberi river when I heard the soldiers howl. I quickly ran up to them and noticed that they've cornered a young lioness, around my age. But she wasn't like any other lioness I had known before. She had pale fur and bright, brown eyes… She was beautiful! And my mutts almost scared the life out of her. I decided to investigate this situation on my own, if you know what I mean… So I ordered the hyenas to beat it. They got mad and said that I knew what my father's orders were- that any trespassers were to be taken care of at once. It only took a little roar to ensure them that I knew that perfectly, and that still I wanted to 'take care' of this lioness myself. So they finally left, leaving me and Kiara alone…

Of course I had heard about the Outsiders, but my father always told me that they were nothing more than worthless traitors. Well, Kiara didn't seem worthless to me… It's a shame those damned hyenas told my father about everything. Eh, I suppose our love was always sentenced to be a tough one. Both of the kings decided that permitting us to be together will be the last thing they'll do in their lives. We risked a lot having our secret meetings, and when Kiara told me that she was pregnant… But what was wrong about that? We loved each other and could do anything for one another, only this stupid conflict didn't let anyone see clearly… I know something changed in my heart when I met Kiara. She taught me to enjoy life and value it more than even the perspective of being king, as long as I was with her. And she also had enough courage to stand against her father, who had always been overprotective of her. We never wanted to start a war, we just wanted to be together… It still hurts me that Scar promised to murder every living Outsider if I didn't leave Kiara. But I couldn't do that. I didn't want to abandon my family… But I suppose they rejected me anyway. I didn't see any real sadness in my parents' eyes when I left. Only anger. So I came back to Kiara and warned her about Scar's plan to destroy the Outlands. She was shocked. We knew we had to warn king Simba about the threatening attack. When he saw me… you know, with that scar on my face… he nearly lost his nerve. I remember he yelled something about incest and polluting king Mufasa's bloodline with the evil genes of Scar… Nala had to hold him back so he wouldn't attack me. I suppose I should have told him who's son I was earlier… but it was too late to think about it then. Kiara quickly explained that the Pridelanders were preparing an attack, so Simba finally came to his senses and rallied up the pride, deciding to deal with us later. We hoped that everything was going to be fine. We hoped that maybe, after years of separation, the two prides would once again feel that they were really one family when they saw each other, and that Kiara and I would become a symbol of reunion to them…

I can't believe how naive I was to even think that. As soon as the two prides stood in front of each other, their generals ordered an attack. It was because the leaders were Simba and Zira, and you have to understand how they were still filled with hate after the battle at Pride Rock… After all, Simba had attempted to overthrow my father, for what my mother killed queen Sarabi. So there was no real place for peace, only mutual hate. And so the battle was inevitable. I stood in shock watching how my own brother and sister crossed the dam in order to fight with my mate's pride until they killed her and her whole family. I couldn't let that happen… so I had to fight as well. I can't remember who exactly I fought with, but I'm sure they were members of my family. Please, don't condemn me for that. I still regret I was forced to do such a terrible thing. We fought under the clouds of a big thunderstorm, just as it was during the battle at Pride Rock years before, only without the hyenas. The battle was fierce and many have died, and the Pridelanders would have defeated Simba if the dam didn't start to break. Fearing that her troops would be cut out from their last way of escape, my mother ordered a general retreat. So we chased the hostile pride away back to the slowly dissolving dam, me along with the Outsiders. But when my brother saw me… he turned around. Oh, that hellish glow in his eyes haunts me to this day… He said that finally now was his chance to become the heir to our father's throne. He attacked me even though he wasn't ordered to do so. I did not want to fight with him… I still feel terrible about what happened… I was always stronger than him, so I threw him into the river, and then… then the damaged dam collapsed. I remember my mother and my sister screaming Nuka's name as he was flushed away in a waterfall of fallen trees… He died. There was no chance he could have survived the fall.

We saw the Pridelanders standing petrified at the other side of the river. I was surprised to see my mother devastated by the loss of her older son, the one she'd always treated like nothing more than an annoying mistake in her relationship with Scar… And then she looked back at me. She was furious- I'm sure that if she could jump over the river, she'd have killed me that day. She accused me of murdering my own brother and shouted that she no longer considers me as her son. My mother rejected me… And for what? My love to Kiara? For a crime I did not commit? I still don't understand.

Well, the fact is that the battle had ended, and that was also the last time I saw my mother. Now I had to deal with Simba. Even though he is my cousin and I fought at his side, he still considered me as an enemy. He didn't care that I had nothing to do with their exile. He blamed me for causing the war, even though Nala and Kiara begged him to reconsider. I don't know how it happened, but finally he changed his mind after a few days. He said that it would have been his father's will. He permitted me to live in the termite mound, but still he's treating us as second class citizens, as you've probably noticed… But I don't blame him. Besides, I think he got used to my presence and now tolerates me more than at the beginning. He even permitted me to give Kiara hunting lessons again, even though he banned her from hunting after she met me during her first expedition to the Pridelands… And I think he's starting to like Upendi and Moja as their grandfather, so maybe there's still a chance for us to form a peaceful, united pride… Simba doesn't have a son, and soon he's going to have to choose himself an heir. I'm not really hungry for his throne or anything, but I have been trained to be a leader all my life, so… I'm not going to propose that to him. He'd still probably think it's ridiculous. Maybe when he gets older…

But hey, enough of the talking. Have you even spent ten minutes to train today, Fisi? C'mon, let's take a run round the fields. You don't want to get out of shape, do you? Being a lion isn't about laying around, as my mother always used to say…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for the long descriptions, I hope they weren't tiring to read. If 2000 words is too much for one chapter, just let me know.<strong>

**These were two points of view to my version of what, in consequence to the earlier events, happened about the time of the second movie. So the story of the past is pretty much revealed. Now it's time for new adventures! Hope you're looking forward XD**


	11. Rogues

Chapter 11 – Rogues

_(Fisi)_

Kovu surprised me with his version of the events. Not only was it totally different from my old legends, what wasn't anything new, but that lion didn't just relate old stories- he was talking about things that concerned his own life, about members of his own family. I thought- damn, how much did he sacrifice just to be with Kiara! He could have been the king of the fertile Pridelands, but instead he chose to be a subject in the dry, termite-infested Outlands. I told him that I think he'd be a good king, and that when Simba's going to have to choose an heir, I'd vote for him. He just laughed and said that monarchy isn't quite about voting…

Later I often thought about the Pridelanders. Were they really that evil? Kovu put it a little differently, but did he just say that because they were his family? I remember how he spoke about Nuka, Vitani, and even Zira along with Scar. I can't say I understood that, but I had a feeling he still loved them. I never knew that Nuka had a family… Sometimes I wondered how they were doing far away at the other side of the river, I really don't know why.

King Simba on the other hand didn't have doubts about their enemy pride. He said that there's a reason for the Outsiders to not call 'Kovus war' simply a battle, and that this conflict actually lasts until today. With a lot of anger, he once told me about a number of occasions when the Pridelanders would send small groups of lions and hyenas to spy in the Outlands, and that sometimes it even resulted in a fight. Simba said that he's afraid Scar might still feel that he and his pride are a threat to his reign, and so the old tyrant will never let their number increase too much. The attacks might have stopped some time ago, but Simba said he's positive that staying near the Pridelands will always be a danger. But beyond the Outlands there's nothing but the desert…

I kind of felt sorry for him. He had a real tough job as king, and sometimes I felt that the burden was too heavy. But even though he often got angry with his subjects, I still thought that he just felt responsible for them. And the later events proved to me that I was right.

* * *

><p><em>(Narrator)<em>

It was a lazy afternoon in the Outlands. The lions that lived there were all relaxing in the shade of a big dead tree after a successful hunt. Most of the pride was napping. Only the young Upendi was occupied with combing her boyfriend Fisi's almost fully grown, blonde mane with her claws as he looked in her eyes with a smile. Suddenly, a loud belch went up in the air, almost waking everyone up.

-"Simba! Stop that!" – whined Nala, the king's beloved mate.

-"Oh I can't help it. You guys did such a good job with getting food today…" - answered the king lazily, afterwards getting a paw to the face. – "_What?_"

-"You behave yourself, mister king. At least try being a good example to the kids." – said the queen with irritation.

-"All right, _mommy_…" - Simba moaned back at her.

But suddenly their idyllic rest had to be interrupted. From the distance, there came a sound of somebody running. A few lions raised their heads. It was Duma, one of the pride's guards, and she looked very concerned about something. In a moment, everyone was at their feet. The king went out to receive her report.

-"What is it?" – he asked with concern.

-"Sire, I saw two male lions near the eastern termite mounds. They looked like Pridelander spies to me." – said the tan furred lioness, panting heavily. Simba grinded his teeth.

-"Pridelanders… So they still insist on continuing the war… Kiara! Get back to the great termitary with Upendi and the cubs. The rest of you, follow me… and prepare that we might have to fight."

The king's words sounded really serious. All of the Outlanders were conscious of the danger those two trespassers brought with them.

-"And what about me?" – Kovu asked, not sure if Simba actually wanted him to follow as well.

-"_Puh_! Stop asking stupid questions, son. Since you're a member of this pride, I expect you to protect it. And Fisi… you come with us too."

And so they moved on. The eastern termite mounds were near a place where the Zuberi river was quite shallow during dry season, providing a passage to the Pridelands, if someone wasn't afraid of crocodiles. There wasn't much there, but the area was a good hiding spot for spies. So Simba's searching team was carefully moving on, sniffing and looking for any signs of unfamiliar lions.

-"Duma, where exactly did you see these Pridelanders?" – asked the king.

-"It was somewhere around here, I'm sure… they must have moved on. But I'm not sure if they were even Pridelanders…"

-"_Of course_ they were Pridelanders…" - Simba growled back at her. – "I can already feel the stink of hyenas in the air… and Scar…"

After a few more minutes, the team decided to split up. The females, lead by Nala, went to investigate closer to the river, while Simba took the males and ventured deeper into the Outlands. But they didn't have to wait long. Soon a loud battle roar raised above the area.

-"It's Nala!" – said the king. – "They've found something! C'mon, let's go."

The lions ran as fast as they could, only to notice a strange scene near the shore of Zuberi. A group of lionesses were tightly surrounding someone, growling ferociously, yet they did not attack. As soon as the other group got there, Simba ordered the females to stand aside. Fisi saw two lions he'd never seen before, who must have been twins. They were young adults, both with short, black manes and grey fur that really made them look like native Pridelanders. One of them was shaking with fear while gazing at them, having the river behind his back, blocking his escape, while the other one looked more like he was bored, lying on the ground and whipping the dirt with his tail. Fisi noticed Kovu smiling when he saw them, unlike Simba, who was rather enraged.

-"Look what crawled out of the river…" - uttered the king. – "Didn't your father give you two a good example _not_ to show yourselves in the Outlands?"

-"Simba, please, just let them speak!" – Kovu insisted, visibly excited.

-"_Hmf_! Very well." – the king snorted. – "You're Moto and Panya, right? You do look a little like your father… and believe me- that is no compliment. What are you looking for over here?"

The bored one raised his reddish eyes at the king, watching him with disdain. Fisi thought that he'd already seen eyes like those before…

-"Let me guess. You must be Simba, our dad's _dear cousin_ and the boss in this pathetic wasteland, huh? Oh, and there's uncle Kovu! Well _hello there_, uncle. You forgot to send us birthday presents for the last couple of years…" - the young Pridelander's words were cheeky and soaked with mockery. His brother didn't say a thing though, still too scared of a whole pride of enemy lions in front of him. But Kovu didn't pay attention to his nephew's hostile pose.

-"Moto, I can't believe how you've grown! And you too, Panya! You're manes are nice and healthy… How's your mother doing? How… how are my parents doing?"

These were Nuka's sons, Fisi thought. Now that was an interesting encounter…

-"_Puh!"_ – the cheeky one named Moto snorted at his uncle's words. – "Mom _hates_ you, remember? You killed our father, you stupid traitor. _Everyone_ hates you for that, especially grandma Zira. "

Kovu frowned with pain, but just a moment later he heard Simba roar, ending their conversation.

-"_RAH! _Enough of this small-talk! You two will tell me _this second_ why have you come here!"

Moto was still undisturbed.

-"I ain't telling you nothing, you old termite."

Simba growled. Seeing that, the second twin, who's name was Panya, jumped up and ran close to his brother, looking at him with a frightened, pleading expression.

-"C'mon, Moto! Let's just tell them. We're outnumbered, there's no use in making them angry…"

-"Oh shut up, you coward!" – his brother lifted up and pushed him, sending him to the ground.

-"Guys, guys!" – yelled Kovu. – "Calm down. We're not going to hurt you."

But Simba was already baring his fangs right into his face for trying to take control of the situation instead of him.

-"_Silence_, Kovu! We first need to determine why they are here, and then we'll think what to do with them."

The lion decided to submit.

-"Do what the king wants, boys." – he addressed his two nephews.

-"He's no frickin king…" - whispered Moto.

But the other one of the twins looked like he was a little more up for cooperation. When he got up from the ground, it seamed as if he was fighting an inner battle for a second, but later he shouted out, close to crying.

-"Please, don't harm us! We're not spies! We've been exiled out of our pride, we're not even Pridelanders anymore…"

Everyone's eyes widened. Panya's brother covered his face with his paw.

-"I'm surrounded by _idiots_…" - he sighed.

-"But why? Did my father do this?" – asked Kovu.

-"Yes! He doesn't like us…" - Panya's voice still shook with distress. – "He says that we're weak and useless to the pride… and... and that we should find our own…"

Moto rolled his eyes. Surprisingly, Simba did the same.

-"Well, it has been an ancient tradition…" - said the king, attracting an angry gaze from the resentful Fisi.

-"And no-one opposed to that?" – Kovu uttered. – "I can't believe it! What about Dotty? I'm sure she didn't agree with Scar to just banish her own sons!"

-"Actually, mom didn't say anything." – this time Moto spoke with grief, revealing that he could indeed show a different emotion than sheer irritation.

-"This is just sad…" - Nala added her opinion. Everyone around looked displeased, with one exception.

-"_Pff_, typical Pridelander style." – mocked the king. – "So what now, are you trying to tell me that you're hoping to join _my_ pride?"

Panya's eyes lid up, but Moto just snorted.

-"Not a chance, gramps! We've had enough time to see the kind of _luxuries_ you Outsiders have in this wonderful, abundant desert of yours. And besides, your _company _just makes us sick!"

Of course, Simba and some of the other lions from his pride had to react in a routine, lion-like way when facing such an insult. The rogue twins quickly made a step back, hearing the mighty roar pointed towards them.

-"Get out." - the king's expression didn't leave them much to argue with.

-"Okay, fine, we're outa here! Sheesh, the nerve of some people… I hope you all just starve to death in this _wasteland_." – Moto kept his level of politeness.

-"But… but where will we go, brother?" – Panya asked him desperately. – "We can't go back to the Prideland, Scar would kill us!"

-"Oh shut up you moron! We're _lions_, remember? Kings of the beasts! We'll be okay if you just _stop whining_ all the time!" – he gave the other twin a slap over the top of his black mane.

Kovu felt bad about his nephews. He remembered that even Nuka himself barely omitted being exiled when he became an adult. Scar kept kicking out every mature male away from the pride as a tradition, so they wouldn't dare to threaten his position as king. It seemed that when it came to his grandsons, he decided not to give them privilege. Kovu thought that he should help them at least a little.

-"Hey Moto! Panya!" – he called to them when they were about to start crossing the river. – "Try heading south and then west of the Prideland. Maybe you'll find yourself a new home close to the jungle."

-"Yeah, maybe a colony of _meercats_ will accept them…" - Simba still didn't show the Pridelanders any respect whatsoever.

-"Thanks, uncle Kovu…" - at least the calmer twin answered with a little gratefulness. His former pridemember looked at him meditatively.

-"Tell me… does everyone in the Pridelands really believe that I wanted to kill your father?"

But Panya was not the first one to answer him. Moto, who was examining the river for crocodiles, turned around and growled.

-"Course they do! I've already told you, everyone hates you out there! Stupid traitorous Outsider…"

Kovu looked at the young lion depressed, but his brother seamed to have finally had enough of the cheeky twin's arrogance.

-"Oh don't you ever shut up Moto? Can't you see he's trying to _help us_? You know that it's a lie and you know it darn well. Remember how Scar got pissed with grandma Zira when she told him that she failed in getting Kovu back from the Outlands? Remember how he often used to say he'd do anything just to get him back, and how mad he was that his own son abandoned him and became an Outsider?"

Fisi looked at Kovu. He looked deeply moved by the words of his nephew.

-"My… my _father_ said that?"

-"Yes! You're his precious heir, aren't you?" – Panya kept on yelling with his squeaking voice. – "After the battle at the great dam, Scar missed losing you much more than our father, even though he was dead and you're not! Later he even sent out patrols of spies to see how you were doing over here."

Kovu could hardly believe what he was hearing. The other Outsiders stood calm, but he was overwhelmed by emotion.

-"And what about… my mother? And my sister?"

-"Uh, well… Zira still blames you for our dad's death and your relations with the Outsiders… but Scar made her apologize to him for not bringing you back. As for aunt Vitani… well… you know how she usually hides what she really thinks…"

-"Boys, I know it's difficult for you to believe me, but I did _not_ kill my brother! He was the one who attacked me, and I didn't even hurt him. I just threw him into the river. I was as shocked as everyone when the dam broke down…"

-"Don't worry, uncle. I believe you." – Panya interrupted him. – "I know dad had been jealous of you, but it was Scar who made you his heir, right?"

Kovu smiled.

-"Right."

Then he hugged his young nephew, even though he wished that all of his family shared his opinion… or at least both of the twins. Moto still stood at the shore, gazing into the river. His uncle approached him from behind, but then the other son of Nuka, who was also significantly stronger and healthier than his father, showed that he could already roar pretty loud.

-"_RRRAH! _Don't touch me, Outsider. Panya! Get your ass over here, we're leaving."

Kovu looked around with sadness. Simba's face showed him that indeed the king wanted the two rogues to get off his land. Panya gave his uncle a final, desperate glare, and then he walked towards the river. Kovu stood at the shore as the two brothers swam across safely.

-"Good luck guys! May you find a good home for yourselves, just like I did! And thank you!"

But no-one turned around anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I consider Nuka to be another strongly ill-treated character, so let's just call this chapter sort of a tribute to him. So he did die and make a lot of mess with that... But he did not abandon this world withou<strong>**t leaving his offspring there. I like the theory that the lazy-eyed lioness from the second movie, who the fans call 'Dotty', was actually his mate. So Dotty gave birth to two little twin Nukas. I named them after what their father seemed to have liked- 'Moto' means 'fire', and 'Panya' means 'mouse'. I tried to divide their father's extreme character features between them.  
><strong>

**Will this encounter of the Outsiders and the two fresh rogues** **be significant in any way? Well, it certainly was for Kovu...**


	12. New Genes

Chapter 11 – New Genes

_(Fisi)_

So after that I have never seen the twins again. Kovu and Simba had a long talk with each other, but it was a private conversation and no-one really knows what it was about… I'm thinking they were discussing their different opinions about the Pridelands, Scar and everyone, but I can't say that for sure. Kovu was really moved by what Panya had told him. That was the first news about his family he had heard for a very long time. So the conversation might have not ended up in a fight, but still Kovu looked depressed and Simba acted like a beehive for a few days afterwards. I decided to leave them to their thoughts for some time, concentrating on something more pleasant- namely, my relationship with Upendi.

Well, we've been friends for quite a few moons now, and I really liked her… So one day I asked Kiara to take care of Moja, which was usually Upendi's job, and I took my brown-furred girlfriend to the river. Just let me tell you this- her green eyes might have reminded me of her crazy grandfather, but I though- what the hell, she's nice, good-looking and a good hunter… She almost saved my life and then helped me in becoming a member of her pride, so why not spend the rest of my life with her? After all, she seemed to like me too…

Well it wasn't easy to say, but… I asked her if she wanted to become my mate.

And she said YES, man! She agreed at once! I was _so_ happy! We fell into each other's paws… Well, we nearly fell into the water, but _damn_, was I happy! Shame I can't send a message to my former pride… But then on second thought, _screw them_! I had a new home now.

Okay, I was lucky there with Upendi, but that was only the easy part. I decided to wait a few more days for king Simba to cool down before asking _him_ for permission…

* * *

><p><em>(Narrator)<em>

-"C'mon in, Fisi! Man, you're acting like I wanted to bite you! Don't worry, I already ate." – laughed the king from the top of his tree stump throne. In front of him, a young adult lion with a blonde mane was awkwardly entering the large cavern of the great termitary. Wonder what's wrong with him? – Simba thought. Did something happen?

-"_Uhm_… Hi, sire… I hope I'm not disturbing you…" - Fisi muttered.

The king crossed his hindlegs, taking a more comfortable pose, and started swinging his tail.

-"_Nah_, I'm not busy. Everything's been fine for the last couple of days. No Pridelanders have been attacking us, and the members of our pride also haven't been _irritating_ me, luckily for them."

-"_Uh_, right…"

Fisi frowned. Seeing his troubled expression, Simba quickly slapped the cave wall with his paw and caught a termite, afterwards dropping the creature into his mouth, what was his old and quite disturbing habit.

-"I can see something's bugging you…" - he said with his mouth full. – "Is everything fine?"

-"Oh yes, everything's okay, it's just that…"

There was a moment of awkward silence, and the king was starting to become angry.

-"Well get to it, kid. I can't spend the whole day with you."

This is it, Fisi thought. No turning back now. Here goes nothing…

-"Sire, I want to ask you for permission to become Upendi's mate."

Again, there was a moment of silence. Ten times longer and ten times more awkward than before. Fisi was too afraid to look Simba in the eyes, instead he observed the king's aggressively swinging tail, feeling that his heart was about to explode.

-"Is she pregnant?" – a question fell from the throne like a strike of lightning.

-"No! She's not, I mean…" - he wanted to say 'not yet', but he bit his tongue. – "We love each other…"

Simba snorted. The younger lion felt with surprise, that the king was actually cheerful.

-"_Puh! _I know that. You think it's hard to see how much you two love-birds are close to one another?"

Fisi lifted his head. He thought that Simba might not like the idea that a former rogue was to become his granddaughter's mate, but no. He was smiling.

-"S-so what's your decision?"

-"Do her parents know about this?"

-"No. Not yet, I mean."

-"Oh, well in that case, if you want my opinion, I'm thinking you did a dumb thing. Now _calm down_, I'm not talking about choosing Upendi as your mate. I'm talking about asking me for permission. After all, who am I? Everyone calls me king only out of courtesy. Go ask her father, kid! If he agrees, I won't be making trouble."

Fisi almost hit the cave sealing with his head, leaping with joy.

-"Really? Thanks, Simba! You really are a good king!"

And then he ran out of the cavern, leaving the older lion alone on his throne.

-"_Hmm_, Fisi and Upendi… well, at least they're not related. That'll clean up the blood line, so I guess it's okay. No more albino cubs… Right, dad? I mean, if I'm wrong, just let me know. Start a lightning storm or something."


	13. Unexpected Visit

Chapter 13 – Unexpected Visit

_(Narrator)_

And so Fisi kept on living the good life along with his new mate, pleased that Kovu and Kiara were now his parents-in-law. Everyone was happy – the whole pride seemed to have considered their relationship a good decision. After the girl's parents agreed with happiness, considering that the young pair's love strongly resembles their own, king Simba organized a little celebration, similar to the betrothal ceremonies he knew from the Pridelands. So the idea was that Fisi and Upendi were to stand at the top of the termite mound, but since the girl was afraid of heights, they changed the plan and so the pair of mates were simply put on top of Simba's throne inside the great termitary. They gave away a mutual roar of joy, to which the rest of the Outsiders added their own cheerful voices that filled up the cavern. Even little Moja growled and laughed, looking at his sister and his new brother-in-law.

The whole situation proved to the lions of the Outlands that even though they lived in a harsh and unfriendly environment, they were going to survive and produce new generations to carry on the legacy of the great kings from the past.

Now this could be a moment where the story ends with a happy conclusion. But wouldn't that be simply lame?

No, this wasn't the end of adventures for Fisi.

* * *

><p>After the time of celebrations, when life just returned to ordinary, he was out on a hunt, hiding in the tall grass along with and his father-in-law Kovu, waiting for the females to start the attack. But then everyone heard a loud roar that came from the direction of the termite mound. It was one of the guards, giving the signal that their home was being under attack. The hunt had to be abandoned, and soon the whole pride was running towards the unknown danger. When they reached the termitary, everyone saw king Simba along with a few lionesses standing in front of a group of someone who looked very much like Pridelanders. Fisi recognized them at once, and their presence made him shiver, even though the three of them weren't enough to be an assault group.<p>

The trespassers were all females, two of them dark and grayish, and one, the youngest, with tan fur and bright blue eyes. And a tuft of hair on her forehead.

-"You can _try_ to kill me… - the lioness viciously growled to her enemies. –But before you do, your number will decrease… By _a lot"_.

-"Vitani…" - Kovu held his breath.

-"You have some nerve coming here, Pridelander!" - Simba said standing in front of the three lionesses in combat stance, baring his teeth. – "Wouldn't it be better for you to find yourself a mate instead of invading neighboring kingdoms?"

Although her team was outnumbered, Vitani was looking into the king's face undisturbed, and with a strong sense of disdain.

-"Screw you, Simba." – she almost spat at him. The lion made a step forward and growled, enraged.

-"Watch your words or I might _forget_ that you're my cousin!"

The lioness rolled her eyes.

-"Sheesh, why am I even talking to _you_? My brother's the one who concerns me."

Kovu approached her and stood motionlessly for a moment. Then he smiled.

-"Tani… After such a long time… It's so good to see you! How are things at the Pridelands? How're our parents?"

But his sister just gazed at him coldly. First he wanted to hug her, but she didn't look very happy about meeting him.

-"It's too bad you're stupid enough to ask that even though you've abandoned us, Kovu. I shouldn't care whether you live or die after what you've done."

-"No! Listen to me, you got it all wrong…" - he quickly opposed, hearing the amount of pretension her words had.

-"_You_ listen to me! I don't want to hear your pathetic explanations! I'm not here for myself. It's father. He ordered me to come here and tell you, that he wants to speak with you."

Everyone looked shocked, including Kovu, but Vitani's request made Simba growl furiously.

-"If he wants that, why doesn't he come here personally? He's still as stupid and cowardly as he used to be, sitting safely at Pride Rock, sending out his daughter to do his business for him without even giving her a proper escort!"

Vitani's voice adopted a sense of sadness.

-"Scar _can't_ come here…" - She said, lowering her head. – "And not because he's afraid of you."

Kovu looked his twin sister in the eyes with shock. There was always a strong connection between her and their father… Vitani was a tough and impenetrable character, and there were probably only two occasions during their life when he saw her revealing her sadness. One was during the battle at the dam, when Nuka died. And the second one was now.

-"He's dying, Kovu" – she groaned.

A sudden burst of pain went through Kovu's heart. He looked around, searching for any support, but even though he'd been an Outsider for years, no-one of his present pridemembers looked like they wanted to mourn over the tyrant that exiled them. But Scar was still his father.

–"I… I will go with you, Vitani." – he mumbled sorrowfully.

Simba, who was until then feeling quite content because of the news brought to him from the Pridelands, roared at him with fury.

-"_No_! You're not going anywhere, Kovu. You chose to stay here, and I will _not_ let you abandon us!"

The lion couldn't believe his eyes. All of the Outsiders, even his own beloved mate, were now looking at him either with anger or deep uncertainty. Just as if they still haven't trusted him!

-"_What?_ I'm not going to abandon you! How can you even think that! I am an Outsider!"

-"But you are _also_ a Pridelander…" - Simba said to him coldly. Then queen Nala decided to express her thoughts.

-"Simba, try giving him a chance! Scar is his father after all."

-"_Silence!_" – the king's stubbornness was at it's highest level.

-"Sire, please! Don't you remember what I told you about Scar? Remember what he did at Pride Rock. Being a father really changed something in him. He's not the selfish evil lion that killed your father anymore. He's just an old ruler who wants to see his heir before he dies. _Please_, Simba…"

Hearing Kovu's pleading and seeing his mate's troubled expression, the king lowered his head in uncertainty. He still hated Scar. He would never forgive him for killing Mufasa, exiling them to the Outlands and attacking them during Kovu's war… But all Scar wanted was to see his son, nothing more. He didn't want anything from the Outsiders. But was Kovu trustworthy? Yes, Simba couldn't fool himself. After all these years he learned to trust his son-in-law, despite the mistakes he'd made…

Closing his eyes, Simba suddenly saw Scar again. Back at Pride Rock years ago, when Kovu was just a newborn cub, clutching at his father's paw… He asked himself what would Mufasa do. But he didn't know. He just didn't know.

-"I… I need time to think this over… I have to consult with someone…" - he stammered.

-"_Sheesh_, some king you are!" – Vitani mocked him. – "Can't you even make a decision on your own? My father really _is_ a better ruler than you. At least he thinks faster."

That insult was just too much for Simba.

-"Fine!" - he spat the word furiously. – "Kovu, take your damned sister out of my sight. I want you back by the end of the week."

The lion was simply petrified to the sudden change of the king's mind.

-"Really? Well… I… we better be on our way, then…"

At once, his whole family ran up to him, cuddling into his mane.

-"Daddy, don't go!" – Moja squealed, already with tears flooding his white eyes.

-"Oh don't worry. I'll be back soon…"

-"You better be, Kovu…" - Kiara said to him sadly. – "You better be…"

A moment later, after giving her, Upendi and Moja his last farewell, the lion joined Vitani and the two other Pridelander lionesses.

-"Hold on there!" – Simba yelled behind him. – "I suppose you shouldn't go out without an escort. Take someone with you. Someone… trustworthy."

Kovu looked around, deeply troubled. He couldn't take Kiara- it would be too risky and besides, Simba would sooner give up eating bugs than let his daughter go straight into Scar's den. But who else was there…

Finally, the lion laid his eyes at someone who became his close friend during his time in the Outlands. At someone who recently became even more to him, and especially to his daughter.

-"Fisi…" - Kovu whispered with a pleading request.

The young lion looked totally startled.

-"Uh, what? Me? You want me to… come with you? To the Pridelands? To see Scar?"

Fisi was scared out of his mind, but looking at Kovu made him certain that indeed that was true. Well, his father-in-law did agree for him to take Upendi as his mate… He did owe him a favor. If only it could be a different one…

-"I must be out of my mind, but…" - he looked at Vitani. He was sure that she recognized him. She didn't look like she wanted to kill him, but how could he know for sure? Still, Kovu was her brother… - "Fine. I'll go."

-"Oh, Fisi, please don't go!" – Upedni ran up to him and held him in her paws. – "And what if it's a trap?"

-"It's not a frickin trap, okay?" – Vitani uttered with irritation. – "Scar's really dying. Kovu's his heir. Why would he want to kill him? I saw my father mourn over Nuka, and I also saw him mourn after Kovu decided not to return to the Pridelands. He's far from the idea of _infanticide_."

And so, after giving everyone their goodbyes, Kovu and Fisi left towards the river along with Vitani and her group. For the first time in years, they were going to enter the Pridelands. And nothing could ensure them that this was going to be a safe travel.


	14. Family Reunion

Chapter 14 – Family Reunion

_(Fisi)_

What the _hell _was I doing? Can anyone of you _please_ enlighten me?

I asked it to myself as soon as we crossed the river. I was now on the territory of an enemy pride, escorted by three vicious females, and I was going straight into the den of a murderous king, who nearly got me killed some time ago!

Not more than a minute after we entered the Pridelands, Vitani looked at me and gave me the meanest of smiles. _You're that nomad Fisi, aren'cha?_ – she snickered. Then Kovu told her that I had recently become his son-in-law… That nasty wench just laughed straight into our faces! Good thing my older companion insisted to introduce the other two lionesses to me as well, or I might have done something very wrong to them… So anyway, Vitani's 'friends' were two sisters, Spotty and Dotty. And the latter, a grey-furred middle-aged female with a lazy right eye, turned out to be no-one else than… Nuka's widow, the mother of Moto and Panya, Kovu and Vitani's sister-in-law. Freakin great! I was really _not_ pleased to meet her acquaintance, even thou she was… well, a member of my new screwed up family! We told her that we've met her sons, but she didn't give an ounce of hyena crap about them… Frankly, she didn't talk much, rather growling at Kovu all the time. I guess she still blamed him for Nuka's death… Damn, these Pridelanders sure were vindictive!

When at that time I thought about my first 'warm welcome' at Pride Rock, I considered it suicidal to return there. After all, Scar didn't kill me just because I wasn't an Outsider. And now I was going back to him, saying- hey old guy, now that I _am_ an Outsider, you finally _can_ kill me! What an _idiot_ I was! But still, I couldn't leave Kovu… Upendi would kick my ass if I chickened out! So I had to frickin follow Vitani, Spotty and Dotty right into the lion's mouth…

Okay, now let me tell you this. I thought I had felt fear in the past. After all, I have already been through quite a lot in my life. Well, when I saw what was happening at Pride Rock, I almost pissed my fur! And don't you laugh at me, you hypocrites! You weren't there! You didn't see how the animals from the Pridelands were preparing for Scar's death. Damn it, just imagine that if you can- first of all, the weather was crappy, cloudy and dark. As far as half a mile from Pride Rock, there were hyenas standing in front of each other in two identical orderly rows. There were _hundreds _of them! The lionesses that were leading us went between the columns without stopping, but Kovu and I hesitated. Vitani just snorted at us, saying that we had nothing to tremble about. Well, we went on, but now I knew perfectly that if we make anyone mad during our visit, we ain't gonna be back from it.

When we stood at the bottom of Pride Rock, the row of hyena soldiers turned into two lines of dark, gloomy lions. At first Kovu was like- _hey you guys, long time no see… Hey there Hasira, you're looking well… Spike! Hi, are these your cubs?_ And so on. But all he got as an answer were irritated growls and looks of hate and disdain.

And when the Pridelanders saw _me_… I felt as if they wanted to _skin me alive_ and watch me running around, watering the grass with my frickin blood! I just hoped that Scar would be in a better mood… If not, I was doomed to never see Upendi again.

* * *

><p><em>(Narrator)<em>

The two Outsiders entered the cave. Alone, as their escort said that they had been ordered to let Kovu and Fisi face the king in private. As the lions were moving on, they felt their steps getting more and more heavy. Truly, they were scared of the pride and the army of hyenas waiting outside… But the person of the dictator, the one who held all the power to kill them and spare them in his paws- that's what caused real fear.

They saw him lying on his stony bed- old, wrinkled and grey, emerged in a comatose slumber, with his chest barely moving. Yes, he was dying. His army might have protected him for years against wars, mutinies and coups, but it was simply his time to go. He'd reaches a lion's top age, and even more than that.

Kovu looked at his father with insecurity. What did Scar want from him? To make him his successor after all? But how could that be true? Did he forget about the fury that woke inside him when he found out about his son's love to an Outlander princess? Kovu didn't know that, and he feared about the answer he would get. He directed his sight towards his faithful son-in-law. The lion knew that Fisi was really brave to join him, even though he was staring at Scar with a terrified gaze.

Well, now was the time to start, he thought.

-"Father…" - he whispered silently.

At first Kovu thought that Scar was asleep and didn't hear him, but then he heard a low growl coming from the king's throat.

-"_Mrrr… _Ko… vu?" – a silent, stertorous voice called his name.

-"Yes! Father, it's me. You… wanted to see me…"

The king kept silent for a moment. It was obvious that he spoke only with the highest effort.

-"If I… was to choose…" - he began slowly – "… who I would like to… see… before I die… It would be you."

He opened his eyes. They still shone with bright emerald, unchanged by the burden of too many seasons. His scar was blazing, almost as if it was a fresh wound. Fisi shivered, hearing the calmness that filled the king's words- it seemed that, despite what he had feared, his son and heir's presence was a relief to the dying dictator. Fisi had always heard how cold and cruel Scar was… well, now he started to feel that also this part of the stories he'd heard weren't exactly true.

Kovu stood looking straight into his father's eyes, that were almost identical with his own. His voice was compressed and shaking.

-"But… I thought you hated me. You exiled me…"

-"Watch your words, boy!" – Scar burst out with a sudden exclamation, but then he fell down back to the ground, coughing. – "_Ekh! Ekh! _I'm not… a _fool_… to banish my own successor."

Kovu stood astonished. He thought that his father had rejected him. He thought that he didn't want to see him anymore after the battle at the great dam…

-"You are… my son… Kovu. And my time… is coming to an end. The Pridelands… belong to you. Just as they always have."

-"I… I still don't understand… What about me and Kiara?"

Although it seemed almost impossible, the old lion made an effort to adopt a delicate smile.

-"Some mistakes… can be forgiven. Especially if the matter concerns… _females_."

Fisi saw that also Kovu smiled, hearing these words. Scar was now looking at his son with a sense of pride and content.

-"I have heard… about your cubs. Upendi… and Moja, am I right? Con… gratulations… my son."

Fisi meditated about what he had known about king Scar. Sure, he'd done a lot of ugly things in his life… but maybe his fatherly instincts really changed something in him? He was almost convinced of that when he saw Kovu delicately nuzzling into his the king's mane. They actually looked like a father with his cub…

After a very emotional minute, the heir asked his dying parent another question.

-"Wait… but where's mother? Why isn't she here by your side?"

The expression on Scar's face became gloomy and distasteful. He growled, silently.

-"_Rah!_ I pay the price… for choosing the most… bull-headed lioness… as my mate. She didn't even want to _listen_… when I told her… that I want you to inherit my throne. You know how… fury takes the best of her sometimes. She still blames you… for treason… running away to the Outlands… and Nuka's death."

-"But father, I really didn't want Nuka to die! You have to believe me! Mother got it all wrong…"

The king silenced his son with a gesture of his paw.

-"Enough, Kovu! Even… if you _are_ saying the truth… I do not care. _You_ are my heir… whether Zira likes it… or not."

The younger lion took a minute to give his father a deep, close glare of examination. Under a sheet of anger, he also noticed a sense of sadness both in the tone of his voice, and in his emerald eyes.

-"You miss her, don't you?" – Kovu inquired.

-"_No_, I…" - Scar groaned, irritation twisting his face. – "Well… It doesn't matter. What's important is that… you are my heir. I want you to become… king… of the Pridelands. Answer me now. Do you… accept it?"

Kovu hesitated. He'd thought that Scar might ask him that question… but he still felt unprepared and unsure.

-"_DO YOU ACCEPT IT?" _– the old lion's angry voice lifted up towards the ceiling of the cave. He wanted an answer and he wanted it now.

Oh Kovu, please don't do anything stupid… - thought Fisi, frightened.

The Outider looked straight into his father's poisonous green eyes. Something like a plan was beginning to form in his mind. It was a great risk, but encouraged by the pressure, he decided to give it a try.  
>-"I will take the throne… But I will do it… only if you let Simba take it first."<p>

Fisi's paws stumbled with shock. It was truly frightening to see just how much raging energy did Scar's dying body still have inside it. The king, letting his fury literally overflow him, was close to tearing the cave apart after what Kovu said to him. He simply _despised_ the idea of handing the throne back to his nephew, even though Simba really was the rightful king of the Pridelands. The old lion roared and swung his paws, scratching the walls and sending small rocks and bones aloft in random directions before he finally calmed down, piercing them with the look of his bloodshot eyes.

-"_NEVER_, do you hear me?"

But Kovu wasn't going to submit. What he said later, Fisi considered as pure madness.

-"_Hmf! _Then it seems that you're going to have to make Vitani become queen."

Scar panted, grinding his grated fangs.

-"You _foolish_ lion! Can't you understand that I… _CAN'T _do what you dare to demand of me? I may order the pride… to accept _you_ back as their king. I can even… make the bloody _hyenas_ submit… to my nephew's rule… But there is _no_ way… the _lionesses_ can accept him… or _any _Outlander! _I_… can't accept him! Don't you… see that?" – Scar was beginning to really get tired from all his angry behavior, sitting on the ground and coughing with a lowered head.

But Kovu just looked at him calm and undisturbed. He intended to use Scar's own weapon against him- a thing he'd inherited after his father apart from the throne of the Pridelands. Namely, his conniving mind.

-"I thought you were the _king_ here. Can't you do whatever you want?" – he asked, deftly aiming straight at the old lion's puffed up self-esteem.

And that was about enough for Scar. He roared with all his might, swinging a paw at his precious heir… but he just wasn't fast enough. Afterwards he just fell back on the floor, totally exhausted.

Fisi observed the whole situation with shock, but he knew that he better stay out of the two's argument. Still, he had deep doubts about his father-in-law's behavior. Had Kovu lost his mind? Didn't he know that Scar could call for a horde of hungry hyenas any second if he got pissed above his limits? Yet the Outsider lion stood in front of his father with confidence.

And for that, he was rewarded. It was a very long time before the old ruler recovered- the tension was so high that Fisi could almost feel the weight of the world around him, but finally Scar was able to speak again.

-"Stubborn… as his mother…" – the king wheezed between breaths. – "This is… _madness_… But why would I care? I'm still dying… anyway…" - he laid his tired eyes upon his heir, sighing with resignation. – "I will… agree. But _only_… under one condition."

Knowing his parents, Kovu almost knew what Scar was going to say.

-"Bring Zira back to me. I want to see her… before I leave this… unfair world."

The young lion smiled. Now he felt that he was indeed right- his family wasn't dysfunctional after all. Well, at least not _totally_ dysfunctional…

He and Fisi understood their assignment. They were almost about to leave, but then Scar spoke to them again.

-"Aren't you going to… introduce me to your… son-in-law, Kovu? What happened to your royal… courtesy?"

Fisi was petrified with shock.

-"You… know about this?" – the king's son asked with just as much surprise.

-"_Hm, hm… _Kovu, I know everything… about my precious heir…"

Fisi shivered, seeing Scar's eyes piercing him. The old lion grinned, noticing the effect he still had on the same short-maned nomad he had once met.

-"Welcome to the family… _Hyena…"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ohh, Fisi's in trouble again… Well, he should have predicted things like this would happen when he married Scar's granddaughter! And since he did agree to go straight into the lion's den, will he ever have the chance to see his mate again… or is Kovu's boldness going to be the end of them both?<strong>

**Kovu managed to make a deal with ol' king Scar. I always liked his character and consider it a big shame that they didn't really make him Scar's son in the movie. Kovu's like a better version of Simba to me- smarter, more serious, stable and vigilant. Stronger both physically and mentally. In my story, being a tyrant's son makes the change in his heart look like a real conversion in comparison to his upbringing. **

**As for Scar himself, becoming a father also changed much in his character, so in order for his son to succeed him, facing his inevitable death, he is even willing to let Simba come back and rule. I don't think that Scar ever really hated his nephew… he just had the habit of eliminating everything that stood in his way. Scar doesn't hate everyone- he just loves himself. But if he has to choose between letting Simba rule before Kovu and not having an heir at all… well, both options make him want to explode, but he has such a value for his son, that he's able to sacrifice much just to prevent him from leaving again. So, with a really heavy heart, he agrees… but he wouldn't be himself if he just did it for free.**

**Now Kovu and Fisi have an even tougher job- to convince Zira to come back to Pride Rock. As I said before, I will always support the theory that there was some kind of a love-like connection between her and Scar. So here we see something I call a Disney version of Hitler and Eva Braun… **


	15. To tame a blazing Heart

Chapter 14 – To tame a blazing Heart

_(Narrator)_

Vitani told Kovu and Fisi, that Zira was hiding over at Scar's old den- a place where he used to spend his time before he ascended the throne. Once again, they had to go there alone. Neither of them uttered a word on the way, and the younger lion was beginning to get more and more concerned. At first he thought that Kovu had some kind of a plan how he might convince his mother to return home, but as they were getting close, also his face seemed to be showing more and more fear and insecurity.

Fisi remembered what his mate's father had told him about his parents. Scar was indeed a tough partner in negotiations, but he was often likely to agree with someone if he knew perfectly clear that it would serve his cause. Zira, however… Well, she was said to have her way of thinking about everything and everyone, and there was no way anyone could change that. If someone persisted in trying to argue with her, he usually lost. Not because he was wrong, but because Zira was a strong, fast female, a queen with an army of lions and hyenas under her command, and she had a _very_ short temper. Even her king sometimes had to submit and let her do what she wanted, just in order to keep the peace at Pride Rock. He never let anyone hint that he was afraid of her, though. Most of the times he tried to show that he was the male in their relationship, but sometimes, when things got really hot, he would just get tired of arguing and leave the case to Zira. Kovu told Fisi that he remembered his father coming back to the cave totally worn off, telling him to _go throw his mother into the waterhole for him_.

But now was a different case. Scar was standing at the threshold of death, and all he dreamed of was to somehow keep the throne for himself after his days are over. The only way he could achieve that was by making his son the king, and he would do that no matter what. Even if he had to let Simba rule first, which under other circumstances would have been an utterly disgusting thought to him. And even if he had to do it against his own mate and queen.

Yes, that was what Scar had thought, but he probably couldn't imagine how he would feel without her. So now he had Kovu back, but he didn't have Zira. And now he felt that he actually wanted _both_ of them.

So, as he was always the master at manipulating other to do his will, he gave his son a new order, very similar to the old ones- _go, throw your mother's head into the water, make her cool off… and then bring her back to me._

* * *

><p><em>(Fisi)<em>

Now _that _was one ugly sight…

And I'm not talking about the poor den that made me wonder how Scar, who was once a king's son after all, could have lived there instead of the beautiful Pride Rock. No. I'm talking about _Zira… _

As well as I could remember, she didn't look good when I met her the first time, with her aging appearance, disfigured by the scars of many battles. But now… well, anyone could tell that the past days haven't been very easy for her, and even rather devastating. She probably didn't eat a thing since she ran away from Scar, her fur was dirty and torn, her bones showing from under it…

And, of course, she was furious. I'm not talking about normal anger here. No, this old lioness acted like the bloodthirsty beast she was from the very moment she saw us. From the moment she saw _her own son_, cause the sight nearly blinded her and at first she didn't even notice I was there too. Going into combat position at once, she backed up to the cave wall, growling ferociously. I think she was preparing to attack, but then she recognized me, more by the scent than by sight. I have _never_ seen a lioness roar like that! I've heard young mothers roaring when they protected their cubs, but that was a common thing in the savannah. Zira's roar was a more like a loud, snarling grunt, coming from the center of a black, diseased heart.

I frowned in horror, and noticed Kovu doing the same. He tried to approach her… He tried to speak to her… But he didn't get a single word of answer. Only growls and warning swings of clawed paws. Then I knew that she had lost her mind. And if we would fail to make her regain it, Scar would probably really banish us- straight into the hyenas' mouths.

So after a minute of futile attempts to speak to his mother reasonably, Kovu just sat in front of her. I followed him in doing so, showing that we weren't trying to be hostile, but Zira just continued to gaze at us and bare her big sharp fangs like a hounded animal. It was crazy. Her _beloved _king wanted her back at his side so he could die peacefully, and yet she persisted in her stubborn hate.

_Hate… _

Yeah, that was her name, after all. Hate towards everyone, even her mate. Even her son…

As I sat there, I wondered on what Kovu had told me about Zira. Power-hungry to the limit, she might have been the one who convinced Scar to commit his crime of fratricide. That would make her the true villain of the duo… But still, her son missed the times when she was just a normal mother to him and his siblings. Was that even possible? She committed all her life just to train Kovu to be a good successor for Scar, so why did she reject him later? Was it only because of Kiara? And what about Nuka, didn't she despise him all his life? So why now, after his death, was she furious enough to reject her more valued son even though he wasn't even guilty?

Too many questions. They all appeared in my head as at least and hour later Zira was finally starting to settle down- not because she was letting go of her anger, but simply because she was too tired to keep up her hostile stance. As she laid down on the ground, Kovu started to whisper to her silently. He would say things like _dad wants you back home, let's just be together again._

Well, at first I thought she was starting to cool down, but when her son said _I never wanted to abandon you and I never wanted Nuka to die… _she started growing again.

Yes, he was trying to explain himself… _it's me, Kovu, remember? You taught me everything I know. Remember our hunting lessons? I never wanted this war to happen. I never wanted us to fight with each other. It can all end if you just believe me… _

Another hour passed, and it was still futile. She needed to know just how her return to Pride Rock was important. _Father sent me here. He wants me to take his place, but only if he can leave this world with you by his side… _

Oh, it all seemed really sad the way he put it… But no- she might have started to cry, Kovu might have started to cry, yet still Zira was paralyzed with fury. My fellow Outsider sighed. What more could he say?

We all knew that Nuka's death was still a splinter in the queen's heart. Once again her son tried to remove it, saying- _his death was an accident. I never even wanted to fight him. It was his own envy that caused his death… _

Damn it, I could have sworn that after such a long time of growling anyone's voice would have simply been worn off, but no. Again Zira growled at Kovu, and again, his efforts were futile. I was beginning to get depressed by it… Was there nothing he could do to convince her?

And then I thought… well, maybe _he_ can't? This is when I decided… to say something myself. I can't remember what it was exactly… probably something like: _Believe him, Zira. Nuka's death is only his own fault, Kovu's innocent. And you are innocent, too. _

I don't know why I said that… I just felt that it was the right thing to do. A moment later I shivered, seeing how she gazed at me. There was no more anger in her eyes. Only tears.

Had Zira accused Kovu of starting the war and her older son's death… or was she really accusing _herself_ for causing the whole thing? For making Nuka jealous about not being chosen to be Scar's heir? For making Kovu abandon the Pridelands…?

I can't tell you that. What I know is that after I said she was innocent, Kovu also agreed with me. _It's not your fault, mother_ – he said.

And then Zira just broke down and cried, sobbing strongly on the stone floor of the cave. Kovu looked at her with sadness… and stood up to start approaching her slowly. She didn't attack him. They just fell into each other's embrace, for the first time in years.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Talk about a wounded psyche…<strong>

**In the second TLK movie, Zira totally lost control also because she didn't have any real support from anyone who would try to ease her madness. So will Kovu and Fisi's 'therapy' make her well again? **

**We shall see…**


	16. King for a Day

Chapter 15 – King for a Day

_(Narrator)_

Seeing Kovu made Zira confront her own old sins, which burdened her conscience and blinded her with fury. But Fisi's words managed to lift the weight from her heart. Now she saw it- before her stood her son, her precious jewel, the one she'd been training all her life, forming him carefully to become a worthy successor for her beloved king… So what difference did it make if he chose an Outsider princess as his mate? Screw the Outsiders. Screw Kiara. Screw the war and everything else. Scar was dying and even as she ran away from Pride Rock, she felt her own life ending along with his. Everything seemed to be coming undone, except this one small light of hope. The only light they ever had- the fruit of their long relationship. Of what they called their mutual 'love'.

Kovu. The heir. The chosen one. And finally, he was back with them once more. Now all they had to do was to get together again. But that wasn't easy.

Zira could barely walk, both form physical and mental exhaustion. She was just leaning over Kovu, still sobbing the whole way, as Fisi walked in front of them, leading the path. When they approached Pride Rock, dusk was already beginning to fall. The eyes of the still wakeful hyenas looked like little fires among the darkness, as the last beams of the setting sun reflected from them. The passionless soldiers bowed their heads before their queen. Also the Pridelander lions honored her, visibly happy about her return, even though they still bore the burden of the king's near-death.

When the devastated Zira appeared in front of her pride, Vitani was the first one to stand before her. Fisi observed as the mother and daughter shared a long moment of silence, looking into each other's faces. And then they fell into a mutual embrace.

The young Outsider thought again about the old legends he had once heard. In those stories, all of the characters were usually very black-and-white, two dimensional, capable of either only good or only evil. But in real life, they weren't so easy to rate in those terms.

Zira had been a blood-thirsty murderer, and yet she was now holding her daughter like a real, committed mother.

Scar had killed his own brother to take over the Pridelands, and yet he spared his nephew Simba despite that he tried to kill him, afterwards becoming something close to a responsible father.

Kovu… well, Kovu was raised by those two, and even though he had committed himself to an enemy princess, he was still faithful to both his new family and the old one.

So Fisi thought that he was now witnessing a turning point in the history of the Pridelands. But what would happen in the future?

Vitani finally let go of her mother, turning her head towards Kovu.

-"Thanks for brining her back…" - she mumbled. Her voice actually sounded a lot more pleasant when she spoke with tears in her eyes. Her brother also came up to her and let her nuzzle into his large brown mane.

-"How's father?" – Kovu asked after a moment of silence.

-"Fine, I guess. I mean… he's still breathing…" - Vitani answered awkwardly.

Then Zira finally decided to say something. For the first time in days, it seemed, because her voice was very weak and stertorous.

-"We must hurry! I need to see him at once."

Fisi thought that she was saying that with a sense of fear. Well, Scar would probably be pretty mad at her for abandoning her at his death bed…

Without further ado, Kovu, Zira and Vitani entered the den, with Fisi right behind them. It was dark inside, but still they could feel the scent of an old lion, laying on the cave floor. His breath was shallow. When he heard them coming in, at first he didn't see who they were.

-"Huh… What?" – he groaned. – "Who's bothering me? I said I… demand to be left… in peace."

Then he opened his eyes. He didn't see much among the darkness, but still he recognized the six spots glowing in front of him. One pair was green, just like his own, the other was blue and also pleasantly familiar… but the third pair of reddish brown eyes was something he'd been waiting for a long time.

-"_Zzziirraaa…"_ - the king purred protractedly. – "Kovu… you have not… failed me. You are a worthy… heir of mine. Now, my children… leave me… and your mother… _alone_."

And so they did. Fisi didn't see much of what was happening, but when he heard Scar's words, he knew at once that it was time to get out of the cave as well.

A while later he observed as Kovu started a long, gloomy conversation with his sister and former pridemembers. Fisi stood aside, not wanting to interrupt since he was still just an Outsider to them, and then he heard a sound coming from inside Scar's den. At first it were mostly Zira's sorrowful groans, half spoken through tears. But later on, the conversation became more serious. Fisi could hardly hear anything that Scar spoke with his fading voice, but Zira was starting to show a little bit more of her typical attitude. Namely, the royal pair started arguing. The Outsider couldn't make out what they were talking about, but it was surely something very important.

And then he almost shivered, hearing a loud roar that echoed inside the cave. It was Zira, and she wasn't humbling herself anymore. She sounded like something really enraged her, and not long after that, Fisi also heard Scar's more silent, yet still agitating growls. His queen's voice became more distressful, and then… they silenced. The young lion jumped to his feet when he heard her approaching from inside the cave.

-"Hey! _Kovu! _It's… your mother…" - he yelped, attracting everyone's attention.

All of the Pridelanders stood in astonishment, watching their queen walking towards them with her head lowered to the ground. She looked humiliated. As she was passing them, Fisi wondered about what was Scar talking to her about. He must have been really rigorous with her…

Standing at the top of Pride Rock, Zira looked down on all of her subjects. What she was about to say was almost unbearably hard for her… but it was Scar's will. And she didn't want to contradict him anymore. She gave away a forceful roar, just to be sure that everyone was listening to her carefully.

-"_RRRAH! _Listen to me, all of you! I have been ordered to announce the last will of the king." – she spoke slowly yet with strength, even though the words coming out of her throat were like razors. – "As it was decided before, and what was indeed never changed, after the death of Scar the throne of the Pridelands will rightfully belong to his son and heir, Kovu. However…" - Zira hesitated for a moment, frowning with hardship, to the concernment of her pridemembers. – "However, according to the king's new decree, before that happens, someone else will reign. Namely… it will be… Simba, son of the late king Mufasa."

All of Pride Rock became one mass of shocked and resentful voices after what the queen had said. Fisi stood frightened, watching how Kovu was desperately trying to explain himself to the members of his family, who were growling and screaming at him viciously. But then Zira roared yet again.

-"_Silence! _This is the king's will and he expects _everyone_ to submit to it! Kovu will rule until Simba and his pride arrive here from the Outlands. And then… we will accept them as members of our own. Simba will take the throne… until his death."

The last word were spoken almost as if she did not believe in them herself, but still with such a demanding tone, that the Pridelanders knew immediately, that they now had two alternate choices- either to submit, abandon their old prejudices and really reunite with the Outsiders… Or to start a new war. With the outnumbering hyenas that were under Zira's command, and didn't really care about who was king, as long as they got fed. And hyenas were known to specifically enjoy lion meat.

As Fisi saw Kovu standing beside his mother and giving away his kingly roar, he thought that Scar hadn't been a total liar after all. He really did loathe violence… And maybe that was what saved him from dying like a total bastard. When the horde of hyenas and lions bowed their heads in submission to their new king, Fisi did the same. He knew that Kovu took the throne for only a while, and hoped that the Pridelanders would also bow down before Simba when he was going to come back to the kingdom that has always been rightfully his.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it? <strong>

**So can it be that easy? Can Scar and Zira truly agree for Simba and the Outsiders to come back to Pride Rock? Or are Kovu and Fisi really a part of some game- prisoners of a deadly trap?**

**The answers are still ahead of you…**


	17. Mourn

Chapter 17 – Mourn

_(Fisi)_

After Kovu was presented as king of the Pridelands, he just ordered everyone to go to sleep. Man, was that a wise choice for a first decree…

All the lions were simply too disoriented by all the sudden events and decisions, and we all agreed that our minds just needed a rest. Most of the pride left Pride Rock to wherever their dens were, but the royal family stayed there and laid to sleep inside the cave. And Kovu told me that as the king's son-in-law, I should stay as well… I have never felt more honored in my life! Over where I came from, Pride Rock was a near-legendary place, home for generations of the famous Lion Kings. And now I was there, laying to sleep beside the royal family… _My _royal family!

Of course, I let Kovu join his relatives, placing myself over the cave wall. I still had a chance to see how Zira was tightly cuddling into the barely breathing body of Scar… but he did not push her away. He surrounded his mate with a paw and just breathed with relief. And I thought that they had just had a furious fight!

Well, even though I was quite surprised with that, I fell asleep immediately. When the first morning sunrays woke me up, I saw the pair of old lions still lying in the same pose, holding each other tightly. Was that really _love_ between them? – I asked myself. A few minutes passed as I was wondering about that, gazing at Scar and Zira all the time. But then I noticed that something was indeed different in them from the night before.

Namely, they weren't breathing.

* * *

><p><em>(Narrator)<em>

A howl of lamentation lifted above the Pride Lands that morning. The lions there might have suspected for a long time that this moment is sure to come someday, but still they were receiving it as a stunning, shocking tragedy. King Scar, their long-term ruler and protector, the one who ended the war with the hyenas and managed to prevent all of the external and internal enemy attacks for years, was dead. Zira, his faithful mate and queen of the Pridelands, an outstanding general and perfect hunter, locked inside Scar's embrace, unable to exist without him, followed him in death caused by exhaustion and sorrow.

Fisi was experiencing something he could not understand. When he heard the armies of hyenas howling in mourn, creating a miserable, deafening choir, when he saw every single lion from the Pridelands, male, female and cub alike, approaching the royal pair's bodies, lying in state, with tears in their eyes, when he saw Kovu- his father-in-law and fellow Outsider, devastated by the loss of his parents, he couldn't help to ask himself one question- _why? _Why were they crying? Wasn't Scar a murderous tyrant? Wasn't Zira a vicious, blood-thirsty killer? Didn't they enslave their own pride, using the hyena army? Didn't they cast half of it away to the Outlands? What was going on? Were all of the Pridelanders blinded by Scar's lies? But he was dead now, he could no longer hurt them! And Kovu… No, it was impossible! He looked so deeply hurt, even though he had been exiled… It couldn't have been faking, not with Kovu. So had Scar indeed repented for his crimes? It was very difficult to believe.

Before sunset, the king and queen's bodies were traditionally taken away to the open savannah and put on the grass beside one another. Kovu and Vitani were carrying their parents on their own backs. It had to be really hard for them to leave the corpses for the vultures, but that was just the natural run of what some called the Circle of Life. Scar had never believed those kinds of stories, always considering them as 'his fathers nonsense', but the Pridelanders were sure that they couldn't just leave them to rot back at Pride Rock. The hyenas, who also attended the funeral, despite their limited intelligence, seemed pretty conscious about the fact that _this _carrion was _not_ for them, and that if anyone of them tried to take a bite, it would end up as dead as Scar and Zira were.

After the ceremony had ended, Fisi thought that it was the right time to try to comfort the new ruler of the land. He came up to Kovu as they were walking back towards the den.

-"Hey… long live the king…" - he tried out for a delicate smile, but almost flinched seeing the expression in Kovu's eyes. Those words did not comfort him at all. To the contrary, Fisi just hit an open wound in his father-in-law's heart. – "Wh-what's the matter? Aren't you happy about the peace you can bring back now that Scar's dead?"

-"I don't deserve to be king at all…" - the lion lowered his dark, brown-maned head to the ground.

-"_What? _What are you talking about?"

Kovu spoke with guilt burdening him.

-"If it wasn't for me, my father would still be alive. I shoudn't have demanded him to accept Simba first… It was too much for him in his state…"

-"Now _hold on there_, your majesty!" – surprisingly to Kovu, Fisi stood in front of him, not trying to hide that he was quite angry. His loud growl made some of the Pridelanders snap out of their grief and look at him with astonishment. – "Kovu, what the _hell_ are you talking about? I know that you've just lost both of your parents, but that is no excuse for loosing your _mind _as well! I admit, I was shocked when you told Scar that you want Simba to take the throne first before you do. I admit, I thought you were going to get us both killed. But now I understand that your plan was _brilliant!_ Don't you see? You are only moments from ending the war between the two prides and making them one again! And don't you accuse yourself of causing your father's death! He was old, Kovu. Older than any lion I have ever known. You hated the thought that your own family used to condemn you for thinking that you killed your brother, and now you do the same thing to yourself? How is that logical? So please, stop worrying and let's just get back to Pride Rock. And tomorrow you can start working on getting Simba and the Outsiders back to the Pridelands, so we can all finally see our families again, you and I along with you!"

Fisi lifted up his eyes, shaking with excitement. He noticed that everyone around- Kovu, Vitani, the Pridelanders and the hyenas were now gazing at him with either surprise or distaste. The young lion gulped. _Oops. Was I saying this too loud?_ – he shivered internally.

After an awkward moment, one of the lionesses approached him with an irritated expression. It was Dotty.

-"Listen here, kid…" - she whispered to him. – "I don't know if you've noticed that, but this is a _funeral_, not a merry stroll to the playground. And if you want to be a member of this family, you better hope _to hell _not to be the one who spoils special occasions…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: RIP, Scar &amp; Zira [*]<strong>

**An awkward moment, isn't it? And not because at first I simply had no idea how to describe a personified lions' funeral ceremony… no way could I write about _burying_ the bodies. It had to apply 'Circle o life' logic, not human logic.**

**But enough about that, there is a more important thing. Just imagine if it happened in real life- the king's dead, his son decides to temporarily give his throne to your arch enemy, and now he's even hesitating if he ever wants to be king at all! Wouldn't that make you angry? **

**Well, the Pridelanders are getting _really_ angry about it. Is there anything that can prevent their land from falling into total chaos? Anarchy might sound like a pretty theory, but it's not that nice in practice… Especially with lions.**


	18. Dawning of a new Era

Chapter 18 – Dawning of a new Era

_(Narrator)_

After they got back home, Kovu told everyone that he wanted to say something to the pride. The lions, even though reluctantly, sat down together at the bottom of Pride Rock.

Fisi was still kind of ashamed of what had happened on the way, so he just stayed at the entrance to the cave along with Vitani.

-"So, you're married to Kovu's daughter, huh?" – she asked him with that blunt voice of hers, from which it was almost impossible to determine in what state of mind she actually was.

-"Uh, yeah…"

-"Good. At least there won't be anymore albino cubs… Ya know, I rather have you as my niece's mate a hundred more times than as my own."

Fisi couldn't fight the feeling that she actually said that as a joke, referring to the one her father had told about them a long time ago. But he had no time to think about it, as Kovu was already starting his speech. The two lions standing behind his back couldn't see just how unsure and nervous the new king was when he faced a whole big pride standing before him in expectance. Because he might have been their king, but he no longer had the backup of his parents' authority.

Or did he…?

Kovu took a long look at the dark, evening sky. He inhaled the familiar Prideland air deep into his lungs, and then he began.

-"My fellow pridemembers! I know you might be wondering why I am addressing you in such a way. Yes, it is true that for the past few years I have lived in the Outlands, along with those who we considered our enemies. But that does not mean that I have ever stopped being a Pridelander! This land is where I was born, where I grew up and where we all used to live together as family, and even though I had to relocate for some time, I have never even thought about abandoning neither you, the Pridelands, nor my father- the king. That fact was confirmed by him alone, and you all know that.

Scar had chosen me as his successor and never changed his mind. This is why I stand among you now as king of the Pridelands, and the first thing I intend to do as king is to honor my father's memory. He was a bold ruler, who managed to achieve what no lion before him could do- he became the king of two races. Hyenas first, and then of lions. But let me remind you that he did not do that to sustain a conflict, but to create peace between those who were said to have been sworn enemies for generations.

It was a hard task, as some of you might still remember. The pride was afraid. Yes, there had been conflicts, but how did this bold idea work out? Did we start another war? Or did we instead learn to live together, sharing what we have, providing ourselves with food and safety, so that hyenas would stand up to secure the cubs of the same lioness that later stood in protection of a hyena's pups?

_Yes, _we managed to achieve that! This union still is a source of peaceful order, and let _everyone _know that my father did everything to sustain it, even if it might have seemed cruel. But that order was so precious to him, that he was ready to sacrifice the lives of a few in order to save the rest. Yes, he fought to keep his throne, but where would we be now if he had lost it?

And this is why we honor him today. I honor him as a king and as a father, as the one who chose me to become his successor. I want to fulfill his will, just as I have always wanted, and even though I do it with a heavy heart after losing both of my parents, I stand before you as king. But don't be surprised when you see just how similar my reign will be to the ways of my father, because I wish to continue his line of spreading order and discipline. And also I intend to do it by a radical revolution!

Consider this day as the beginning of a new era. After the age of Scar, in which lion and hyena came together, there comes the age of Kovu. And now is the time for peace among the lions themselves! This is the time when Pridelanders and Outlanders will reunite, cease the old conflicts and build a new future together, as one.

In order to achieve this, I will temporarily give the throne to someone who's royal line of decency is also undisputable- to the older and more experienced Simba, who has been the king of the Outlands, and who is also, as the son of king Mufasa, a rightful heir to the throne of the Pridelands. Tomorrow I will send word to him and his pride, and they will all be relocated back to their former home.

Because they too were once one with us, I expect you to accept them. I expect no fights. No battles. No war. The war has ended and there will be no more killing of your own kind. This law will be sustained by king Simba, and after his death, by me and my successors. This was the will of Scar, just as my mother had announced. And if someone dares to contradict these orders, he will be dealt with according to my father's law. Anyone who thinks otherwise will be exiled to the Outlands, to take the place of those who will come from there to live with us.

But we _will_ have peace!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: There's nothing like a nice, firm speech to set your mind right, in'it? XD<strong>


	19. The Messenger

**AN: No, this isn't the end yet!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 18 – The Messenger<p>

_(Fisi)_

Damn politicians…

Scar used to be famous for his charisma and talent of crowd control, but honestly I didn't know that Kovu had it in him too. If he just chose to stay at the Pridelands as king, he wouldn't probably have any trouble ruling.

But _no,_ it couldn't possibly be that easy… There was still the question of the Outsiders, who had to be informed about the result of our journey to Pride Rock… And, of course, _who_ had to be the one to go and tell them? _Me! Fisi, _the famous 'lion messenger'! Now that Kovu took the throne, he couldn't abandon his not-yet-totally-faithful subjects. He told me he had to talk with some folks who still had their doubts in order to explain his decisions to them, what would probably not be that easy, so he asked me to go and tell Simba about everything… Damn, did I ever feel the weight of responsibility!

My assignment was not only to pass the information, but also to convince the Outsiders to meet up with the Pridelanders so they could be reunited… And you probably do remember what happened _the last time _when the two parts of this 'happy family' stood in front of each other. A bloody _war_! But what the hell could I do? I was an Outsider myself, after all, so I thought that maybe at least Upendi and Kiara would support me… Cause as you probably had already noticed, Simba wasn't an easy partner to negotiate with! And so, not wanting to waste any time, I went out on my way back to the Outlands. I was alone. Kovu wanted to give me a patrol of hyena guards, but I thought that their presence might not _exactly _be found as pleasant in Simba's eyes.

As I was crossing at the shallow point of Zuberi river, I wasn't even concerned about the crocodiles… Oh, the look on everyone's faces when they saw me coming back alone! I didn't know if they were closer to commit mass suicide from the despair of loosing Kovu, or to ripping me to shreds for letting him get lost… They looked miserable- Kiara and Upendi's weeping howls went up sky-high, Simba was growling at me with bloodshot eyes… Only little Moja sat at the ground, not having a darn clue about what the whole commotion the grown-ups were making was about.

First I had to silence them, so I roared something like- _shut your damn mouths everyone and let me speak!_

Well, the result was moderate, but finally I managed to explain to them that Kovu was alive and all fine back at the Pridelands. So then they all asked- _why the hell did you leave him there, you numb-skull! Scar probably ordered the hyenas to devour him as soon as you left, _blah-blah…

And afterwards I said that Scar couldn't do that, because, sadly, he was dead.

Everybody was like- _Oh…_,and then… speechless. Well, everybody except Simba, obviously. It's a good thing Kovu wasn't there… The king just started celebrating what was his own personal triumph, even though he didn't have nothing to do with it. He started laughing and totally lost his mind for a minute.

In the meantime, the rest of the Outsiders asked me if that meant that Kovu became king of the Pridelands. I said that it was true… and there they went again, asking me a thousand questions, whining and complaining why I let him stay there and why the hell didn't he come back.

Once again I had to tell them all to shut up… Yeah, also to Simba. I remember I said something like- _hey! Get off the ground, wipe that stupid grin off your face and at least try to be reasonable, I've got very important news to tell you! _Well, he wasn't happy about the tone of my voice, but he listened. Everyone listened.

My own pridemembers were gazing at me, pretty pissed off about their uncertainty, and I was pretty pissed off myself, feeling the weight of what I had to tell them. So I took a deep breath… And explained how Scar, desperately wanting to make Kovu his successor, agreed to his son's demand and let Simba and his pride come back to the Pridelands and rule them until the latter's death, and that only afterwards would Kovu take the throne.

Their reaction was… Well, quite chaotic. In fact, my words started a pretty big argument among all the lions. Most of them just couldn't believe me… Some were thinking that it was too good to be true, but some started accusing me of lying and being a part of some plot. In the end, the first and the second group ended up shouting at each other senselessly… It was very stupid, really. Simba kept on moaning that Scar would sooner mate an elephant than let him rule the Pridelands again- that it was all a trick to lure them right into his trap, so that in the end they would all end up as hyena food. Kiara and Upendi almost begged the king not to accuse Kovu of such horrible things, and Nala supported them, but after Simba decided not to submit to the females in his stubbornness, the queen decided to take the matters into her own paws.

Literally.

The whole pride made a step back and silenced in shock, observing how the old huntress, who probably hadn't spent a day of her life without hunting, charged at the usually not very physically active Simba, pinning him to the ground in a flash. Baring her fangs right in front of his eyes, she explained to him very slowly and very carefully, that _her_ son-in-law was _not _a liar, and that he better listen to what I had said, because it's a great kindness of Kovu, who Simba had treated rather coldly, to even _think _of trying to persuade his famously _edgy _father to give his throne to his sworn enemy before his heir would take it. And furthermore, it was a chance of a lifetime for Simba to change the lives of his whole pride for a whole lot better in a blink of an eye, what king Mufasa would have definitely liked, and that she would be _extremely _unhappy if he simply blew it because of some old prejudices.

After saying these words, she took her paws off his chest and let him stand. The king just looked around awkwardly, turned to me and asked- _where do they want to meet with us? _

Damn, was it ever a relief to hear that he finally decided to be reasonable! The queen always had her own way of convincing him to do certain things… When Simba came up to me in order to hear my explanations, I saw Nala still piercing him with her sight. As he was standing with his back turned at her, I saw him sighing quietly and mouthing one word-

_Menopause_…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Simba, Simba… always in need of someone to knock the sense into him… Good thing Nala's still rational and patient enough to be right there at his side whenever his stubbornness causes him to almost make a mistake. But this is where her patience ends! XD I just love her when she's angry.<strong>

**So what's ahead of us- a peaceful reunion or a big bloody battle? **

**Stay tuned.**


	20. Back Home

Chapter 20 – Back Home

_(Narrator)_

The air around Zuberi river was dry and heavy that evening. When all of the Outsider lions stood at the shore, they could barely see what was going on at the other side because of the heat. But it was impossible for them not to see another pride, larger than their own, and also a giant horde of dozens of hyenas that were standing right behind it.

First, the two rulers of the neighboring kingdoms stood in front of each other, separated only by a few meters of shallow water. But they were not looking at themselves. Kovu directed his longing sight towards his beloved mate and children, who were smiling at him from the other side of the river. Simba, on the other hand, was looking at the Pridelands- his rightful kingdom, the same land he'd once failed to regain, and Pride Rock- the place which used to be his home, and where his throne was. He knew that he had to be the first one to step forward. As he felt the cold water touching his paws, he attempted as hard as he could not to show that he was very afraid of what was going to happen in just a while.

He saw the army of hyenas closing by… But they did not seem hostile. They didn't even look as if they wanted to fight. The lions, however, among who many were his relatives… Well, it was very hard to determine what exactly did they think judging from their grim expressions.

Then Simba turned his eyes towards Kovu. His son-in-law and the member of his pride, who was now the king of the Pridelands and all that lived in them, was smiling. He didn't say a thing, but once Simba stood in front of him at the other shore, Kovu did not attempt to take revenge for years of mistreating and did not order his pride or his hyenas to attack. So what could the ruler of the Outlands do? He smiled back at him, and then turned around, giving his subjects the sign to start crossing the river as well.

This was the day their exile finally ended. They were back home- back at the Pridelands. Apart from Kovu's family, who quickly ran up and nuzzled each other with joy, the Outsiders' welcome was cold. The lions of the Pridelands did not cheer from the reunion. They might have not shown any emotion at all, but there was also something that brought hope- they did not attack. There was a delicate peace between two parts of the same pride, that were separated too long ago.

Everybody came back to Pride Rock in silence. The now former Outsiders were shocked to find their homeland back to it's former shape from before the great drought. The area was truly beautiful, especially for the ones who were seeing it for the first time, but everyone couldn't help to think whether if they could all live together along with the hyenas and still have enough food and water.

Kovu was the first one to ascend Pride Rock, waiting for the whole procession of animals to take their places. He was happy to see them keeping peace with each other, but still he was concerned about the fact that the Pridelanders still wouldn't sit together with the new inhabitants of their kingdom. When Simba stood behind him, Kovu stepped down, letting the rightful king ascend the top of Pride Rock and finally assume his throne.

The younger lion joined his family at the bottom, noticing that Simba might have looked happy, but still he had a sense of uncertainty in him.

His royal roar was long, loud and mighty, but after it came only the roars of the Outsiders. The hyenas might have lowered their heads in submission, but soon some of them started to raise them, seeing in surprise that the Pridelanders just sat in silence, passionlessly. It wasn't a clear contradiction to the king's rule, but it still broke an ancient tradition and showed that they weren't too happy about the whole situation.

Seeing that made Simba frown. He then gave away a series of loud throaty howls, that were a male lion's typical way to clearly show his authority over a certain area. As his voice lifted above the Pridelands, everybody knew that this was a start of a new, but rather difficult reign.


	21. Painful Healing

Chapter 21 – Painful Healing

_(Fisi)_

So I ain't gonna start singing a song about it or anything, but the prides finally became one.

Well, at least theoretically…

After Simba took the throne, we were all happy to watch how fertile and abundant our new home was, but, frankly, we didn't feel like we were welcome there. Most of my fellow former Outsiders were simply afraid of the vicious Pridelander lions, and only a few attempted to actually recreate the relations with their old relatives.

Good thing Simba let Upendi and me live in the cave at Pride Rock along with Vitani, Kiara, Kovu and Moja… Well the place might have been comfortable, and Simba was simply overflown with joy when he remembered how he spent his cubhood there along with king Mufasa and queen Sarabi, but the very next day the den became so busy, that we almost had to move out. All sorts of folks wanted to talk to the new king as soon as possible. First it were the leaders of the Pridelander hunting parties, asking how he was going to divide the duties of getting food, because the newcomers certainly had to start working for themselves. Then some hyena clanleaders came, telling him about the arguments among their packs concerning who should they actually submit to. Simba sent out Vitani to deal with them, as she had been sort of a general responsible for the hyena army ever since Kovu left to the Outlands.

But as more and more lions were coming, whining about the many problems they had with finding a place to live or other arguments with the old inhabitants of the Pridelands, Simba started to feel just how heavy his crown was going to be. After a while, he became irritated and had to ask Kovu to come and help him, and by the end of the day my father-in-law was taking care of everything, as the king got one of his severe migraines. Before sunset, Simba just ordered everyone to go to hell and let him and his family sleep.

Damn, was I ever glad to go to sleep that night! I held Upendi closely, as we both hoped that this delicate balance wouldn't get shattered by someone doing something stupid…

* * *

><p><em>(Narrator)<em>

Kovu was tired. He might have given up the throne to Simba, but he was still doing most of his job of keeping peace in the Pridelands. He knew the lions who lived there and had authority over them, and besides, the new king just didn't have his kind of patience. After a few hot days things were finally starting to settle down. The two reunited prides even attempted a few successful hunts together, and Kovu thought that they might still learn to live as one. Whenever there was a fight between a Pridelander and a former Outsider, Kovu just told them about his love to Kiara as an example that there was no real reason to argue. Not all believed him, but still thing seemed to be going in a good direction.

After another busy day, Kovu was sitting at Pride Rock, observing the sunset. He was home… but could this land stand the burden of the old scars? He lowered his head, immersed in meditation, and then he heard someone approaching him from behind.

-"I am being constantly tempted because of you…" - a hoarse, gloomy voice whispered to him.

-"Vitani!" – Kovu adressed his sister, turning around.

-"Yeah. I came to tell ya that you're not the only troubled lion in the Pridelands these days."

-"What do you mean? I don't understand."

-"Then shut up and listen." – Vitani looked pretty burdened as she sat beside him with a sigh. – "It was so close I almost did it… Oh damn, if only the lionesses would leave me alone… But no, they just _had_ to persist. They keep coming to me and trying to convince me to start a whole new mess. They think the very presence of Simba is an abomination, and that his pride is going to ruin us and lead to a famine…"

-"But… Is that true? I thought…"

-"Yeah, you _thought_, but you didn't see what I saw. I wouldn't be telling this to you if it wasn't true. Turns out that the game isn't enough for us and the hyenas. Sooner or later, someone'll have to start feeling hungry. And _hell_ knows what then… This is why I was feeling _very_ tempted… Not only because of the lionesses. Also because of the promise I made to mother. Oh Kovu, please, don't ask. Shut up and listen to me. Just listen…"

* * *

><p><em>(Vitani)<em>

It all happened the night before our parents' funeral. Mother was still alive, and if I knew that the words she said to me were going to be her last, I wouldn't let her say _anything_ at all! She woke me up in the middle of the night and ordered to follow her silently. She took me to the top of Pride Rock.

You know that crazy look in her eyes… Well it was more crazy then ever. She demanded me to listen carefully- to take a look around on everything covered with the darkness of the night. She said that all of this belongs to Scar, and that she will sooner die than just let Simba have it. But as she couldn't oppose to father's will, she wanted _me_ to carry out hers. This is what she told me…

_Wrath is boiling inside me, Vitani. I feel as death approaches me, and yet a much worse thought also fogs my mind._

_Simba… _

_He cannot become the king of the Pridelands! I will NOT let this happen! _

_So hear me now, and hear me well. I call the stars to bear witness to a mother's oath! If he does not feel the pain of death because of you as soon as he shows his wretched self at Pride Rock… _

_HEAR ME! IF HE DOES NOT BECOME PALE WITH YOUR JAWS TIGHTENING AROUND HIS NECK, YOU WILL BE MY DAUGHTER NO LONGER! _

_Then, the natural bonds between us will shatter. Then, you can consider yourself disowned, Vitani! Banished from this land and forsaken in my sight, forever! _

That was her promise… and I agreed with her. She just gave me a last angry look and went back to the den. That was the last time I saw her alive.

Damn it, I really tried to be strong… I really tried to forget about it… But for the past days some of our pridemembers have been coming to me many times and trying to convince me to send the hyenas to kill Simba and exile you away once again. I just couldn't stand it. I had made a promise to my own mother…

Yesterday, late at night, I was standing at the entrance to the cave. I was thinking that a few lionesses were just waiting for my sign, and that we could immediately get the hyenas together, kill Simba and make the Outsiders leave without harming you or your family. I'm sorry Kovu, but… I just wanted to be faithful to mother.

I was about to go, when I saw some small white animal approaching me. He just grabbed my paw and started calling me 'aunt Vitani'. It was Moja, your son. I have no idea why he wasn't asleep yet. When I saw him… I just came back to the cave.

I… I was torn. I felt guilty for betraying the word I gave to mother, but I just _can't_ kill Simba! He's your family now as well… and my family. And I don't wanna be the one who destroys what everyone's been trying to build! If I can't be a princess anymore, so be it. I can put up with being disowned and exiled.

I've talked to the hyena clan leaders. They don't really need us, only the food, so they're willing to relocate. I have their trust, so I'm just gonna lead them towards the mountains… and leave the Pridelands for lions alone. This way you guys'll always have enough food.

Never thought I'd end up as a hyena queen, but what the hell. This is how dad started out, too. Who knows, maybe I'll find myself a new pride over there. And maybe even a proper mate…

So it ain't easy for me, but… I guess this is so long, Kovu. I hope you can all learn to live together without the threat of an army of hyenas lead by your crazy sister…

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The peace was an illusion. The Pridelanders created it partially to distract Kovu, and they succeeded. Two prides, brutally ripped apart and then brutally sewn together back again, were only externally healed, but still secretly infected with the gangrene of hate. <strong>

**Zira… She might have been obedient to Scar, but not even her mate, not even her own death could stop her from carrying out her own hidden plan of destruction. For that purpose she decided to use her committed daughter. I took the idea of the 'mothers oath' she made to Vitani straight from Mozart's 'Magic flute' opera- her words are my adaptation of the famous second aria sung by the Queen of the Night- a masterpiece of music, that contains endless disdain of the character who also orders her daughter to commit murder or be disowned. Since Zira is sometimes compared to a Disney version of Lady Macbeth, I decided to make her my own version of the Queen of the Night. The role fits her perfectly. Check the aria out on the Tube if you like, just write 'Der Hoelle Rache'.**

**As for Vitani… well, she was truly torn. She accepted her mother's will, her pridesisters pressed her to carry it out, but in the end, thanks to her little white inconspicuous** **nephew Moja, she decided to brake her promise. To sacrifice herself and at least try to erase a greatest danger- the army of hyenas, who the mutinous lionesses wanted to use in order to overthrow king Simba for good. And so, like her father before her, Vitani decides to become an outcast hyena queen, leaving the Pridelands for the lions to settle their arguments themselves.**

**Oh, and if you still haven't asked Google Translate, 'Moja' means 'one'.**


	22. We are One

Chapter 21 – We are One

_(Fisi)_

So this is probably when we come close to the present.

At the moment, it's already been almost a year since I became a Pridelander. There are really just a few more things left that I can tell you about the recent events, but they're still important stuff. First, after Vitani left with the hyenas, Kovu fell into a kind of depression. I can't blame him- after losing his parents, he thought that at least his sister would be there for him, but there was no way he could convince her to stay. It all seemed very strange when one day she simply took the whole army and marched on towards the mountains, but I guess Vitani was always strange, anyway. I still have no idea why she did that.

Soon afterwards, Kovu found out that some of the old Pridelander lionesses were secretly plotting against Simba's reign... When the king heard about _that_, he demanded to know the names of the traitors. The situation got _really_ hot and I suppose Kovu warned them to abandon their stubbornness or else they would be banished, because in the end only one lioness was brought to Pride Rock in order to be tried for treason. It was Dotty. Many of her friends begged her to submit, but she didn't want to do that. She said that if she is made to be a subject to someone like Simba, she rather leave. And so the king exiled her without batting an eyelash… He didn't have mercy for her even despite her age- kind of like she didn't care when Scar exiled her sons, Moto and Panya.

So Dotty left towards the Outlands, and Simba asked the rest of the pride if there was still someone who wanted to join her. There weren't any volunteers.

Left without his closest relatives, Kovu had to focus on his own family- on helping them so that the Pridelands could really become our new home. And that wasn't easy… It still isn't. At first the old inhabitants didn't want to have much to do with us. Their loyalty to the former ruler made them object to hunting with us or even living close to former Outsiders. I remember lionesses get mad and ban their cubs from playing with little Moja and the others… It was pretty sad and irritating not to be welcome in the place where you want to spend you life…

Good thing that's mostly over now! Back then, due to the endless arguments and misunderstandings, Simba ordered the hunting parties to be divided between the two groups. It took Kovu's help and hours of arguing and turbulent negotiations before they finally came to an agreement over who gets what part of the savannah…

It looked pretty nasty, but soon all of the lions found out that without the hyenas there is indeed enough food for everyone, and even much more than that! Two parts of the same pride started to realize that they could actually exist together, without senseless fighting, but as one big family. After everyone finished their hunt and the following feast, cause we would never eat like that back at the Outlands, we all shared the same waterhole and were starting to talk with each other on a more peaceful level. Finally, the whole pride could meet together… Well, at least as long as no-one touched the subject of politics… Cause if someone _does_ do that, even now things can sometimes get nasty.

After finding out that the Pridelands can indeed still be a real home to him and his family, Kovu regained his happiness and will to live. He even started getting along with king Simba.

Simba… yeah, after he took his father's throne he pretty much felt that he'd fulfilled his life's mission. After the constantly arguing lions ceased to appear at Pride Rock, he really started to enjoy his position… and he even started to show Kovu signs of gratitude. _You've repaired your old mistakes, kid- _I heard him say to his son-in-law once. Simba was as happy as ever. He let go of his constantly bored and edgy attitude, or at least most of it. He even dropped his bug-eating habit when he noticed that his new subjects were making fun of him. He was pretty angry then, but later he just got used to eating extra meat. After only a few months, as more and more hairs in his reddish mane became grey, he also gained quite a lot of weight. It was probably because he would now leave his den at Pride Rock only if he really had to… Some more malicious lionesses say that his lifestyle isn't much different from how Scar used to rule, but I guess it's just in a male lion's nature to laze around in the time of peace… When there is trouble, we will be a strong army lead by our king, but since no-one dares to attack such a large pride of lions, I don't see anything wrong in relaxing… I just feel sorry for Simba to be constantly rebuked by Nala, cause the queen has given up hunting due to her old age and now spends most of her time trying to convince her mate to 'finally move his fat corpse and at least check out if everything's fine' or things like that…

But he really doesn't have to do that. Kovu takes care of patrolling the borders most of the time, with me often helping him with the job. I never knew just how vast and beautiful the Pridelands truly are… Once again, my old stories turn out to be a lot of rubbish.

As for Upendi and me… well, as soon as we were sure that living in the Pridelands was safe, we decided to take part in increasing it's population, if you know what I mean… Yeah, my mate is pregnant and we are expecting our first cub to be born any day now. Words simply can't express how happy we are… Even Simba was enthusiastic when he heard the good news. He said he wants to organize an old-fashioned presentation ceremony, with all of the animals present to honor a new member of the royal family. Too bad that old mandrill shaman got himself killed way back during the Battle at Pride Rock…

When I told Kovu that he was going to become a grandfather, he just smiled and told me to meet him at the top of Pride Rock the next morning. I remember how charmed I was, seeing how the raising sun illuminated the land below us. Kovu encouraged me to imagine the future- how would it all look like in a few years. Simba was old, and soon he will also have to join his ancestors. But also Kovu's upcoming reign would not last forever. He asked me if I knew who was going to ascend the throne of the Pridelands afterwards. Startled, I answered that I've never really thought about that and that it belonged to the far future. But when he insisted that I should answer, I said I suppose that would be Moja, his son.

He just laughed, turning his head. _Moja's not my first born- _he told me. I considered his way of thinking kind of strange. Upendi couldn't become a ruler! When I told him that, he turned away and started to confess to me that he had much to thank me for. He considered I helped him a lot during the difficult events of the past… Well, I didn't feel like I did that much myself, and I admitted it to him, but then he strongly opposed. He said that the peace between the Pridelanders and the Outsiders couldn't have been achieved without me. He mentioned my bravery in accompanying him in the journey to meet his father, my interference in convincing Zira to come back to Pride Rock, the fact that I convinced Simba to lead us to the Pridelands. And even what I had said after the funeral!

At that moment he looked me in the eyes and said I deserved a reward for all I've done. That in some time, after his own reign comes to an end and he passes away to join his ancestors, _I_ would be the one to succeed him. That he chooses _me_ to be his heir.

Damn… That was totally not the answer I had expected…

What do you say to something like that? I took a look at the land around me… at the rivers, sparkling in the morning sun, at the endless plains of the savannah, at the slowly waking herds of all types of animals, from the tiny ant to the leaping antelope and the roaring lion… And all of this was to be my responsibility? I told Kovu that I was afraid to accept that. I had been a rogue and didn't have much experience in living in a pride, not even mentioning ruling one… But he was still smiling, advising me to not burden my mind with that thought for now. The first thing I had to worry about was the birth of my cub… And who knows, maybe he will be the next king of the Pridelands after me!

It still sounds like some kind of a cheap fairytale, but when I look around me, I know that it isn't. As I see lionesses still arguing at the mere mentioning of Scar's name, I shake to think about what awaits me. And putting up with Upendi's moody behavior during her pregnancy also isn't the biggest pleasure…

Well, I guess that after all this time I can only say one thing- things are usually not exactly the way they seem to be. Scar started out as a murderer, and fathering Kovu changed everything in his life and in the life of his pride as well. I started out as a homeless nomad, kicked out of my own home, and one visit to the Pridelands changed everything in my life… And so the rogue became an heir to the throne.

When Simba found out about Kovu's decision, he said that 'the Old Kings' would like this course of the Circle of Life.

Personally, I never believed in the voices he said he was hearing, but…

Well, I guess it's better if they do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I simply can't believe how many of you continued on reading my chaotic babble for such a long time until the very end… <strong>

**Cause I really hate to admit it, but yes- this is the end of the story of Fisi. I know it might be predictable that I made it a happy ending, but don't we all like to know that the characters we get used to during the process of reading did well even later on? Yes, I think that Fisi's going to be just fine. He never dreamed of it, but he is going to be the next Lion King, and later his and Upendi's son will inherit the throne. Let's just hope that they'll learn the lesson of the past generations…**

**Well, what more can I say? Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support, for the comments, PMs and everything! I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing and submitting my amateur texts on the net. I will now probably give myself a time of rest in writing…**

**But maybe… I'm not saying for sure, but MAYBE, if you ask me, I will submit one more chapter to this story. You are my readers, so I will not object to your request XD**


	23. BONUS CHAPTER  Malkia wa Fisi

**AN: There is still _something_ that I can add ;D**

* * *

><p>BONUS CHAPTER 23<p>

They had heard legends.

The lions from the Pridelands, due to their resident lifestyle, didn't really know much about distant lands and whatever hid behind the borders of their own plentiful kingdom, yet they specifically enjoyed repeating old stories about both their own ancestors, and all of Africa alike. For example, the famous great jungle that spread out west of their home and went on far beyond the horizon was said to be a place of almost unimaginable beauty and richness.

So they had heard…

And this was exactly why they obediently listened to the advise as to where they should go in search for a new place to live. In order to get to the jungle, one first had to cross a bare, sun-scorched desert, but fortunately they were strong enough to achieve that task without a problem. And at first, they were amazed. Truly, the jungle was beautiful, with it's sky-scraping treetops, strange types of plant life, all sorts of animals they've never seen before, and also with an inexhaustible abundance of water… But was it _really_ a paradise for lions to live?

The two rogues haven't said a word to each other in days. They just weren't in the mood for chatting, concerning how they were desperate to get across the endless wilderness and leave the shade of trees as fast as possible. When they finally went through the last barrier of leaves with disappointment still covering their faces, when the savannah sun threw it's pleasant warmth at them once again, at last they felt that it was a right time to feel relieved.

They had heard stories that the jungle was a paradise for lions to live…

What a load of buffalo crap!

They had spent a very long month in the wilderness and now they felt that listening to uncle Kovu's advice was the worst thing they could possibly do after their exile from the Pridelands. The giant forest was only fun for a day or two, before they got used to the pretty landscapes and colorful wildlife. But getting food occurred almost impossible over there! The stalking tactics that their mother had taught them were useless behind the trees, and besides- no zebras, antelopes or warthogs lived in that cursed place. There were mostly birds and monkeys, both too fast for them to catch. So what else they could eat? Bugs? They had seen hundreds in different shapes and sizes, but they'd rather wait for one of them to starve so that the other one could feed on his corpse than eat bugs. So they had to teach themselves to catch fish in the many ponds and rivers scattered all around the jungle, but that too required a lot of patience and skill, and still they often had to walk around with empty stomachs. Not far away, at the edge of the forest, there were large meercat colonies, but those puny creatures weren't much of a meal and usually managed to outrun them back into their underground homes.

So what was left for them to do? Their forced diet was quite frustrating and they soon started fighting over every small scrap of meat. After enough time of arguing, they came to an agreement that they'd had enough and they better leave this forsaken jungle before they accidentally murder one another.

When the two young brothers walked along the savannah, they felt that finally they were in their proper environment. In the distance, they could already see herds of animals simply begging for them to start a hunt. It would not be an easy task without the help of any lionesses, and also their distinctive appearance made them quite visible. From their deceased father they both inherited raven-black manes, and they also had dark, grayish fur similar to their mother's. Those features made it tough for them to approach prey without being spotted, but they were hungry enough to give it a try.

Some said that outwardly Moto and Panya were indistinguishable twins, yet just like their mother Dotty, themselves they found the differences highly noticeable. Of course, even though they were both similar in size, dark and brown-eyed, one had to be blind not to notice that Panya had entangled and broken whiskers since he was a cub, and that he looked specifically similar to Nuka. And he also had his large mane combed backwards, kind of like his grandfather- king Scar, while Moto had more a sort of straight-up hairdo with a long strand in the middle and looked a little more like Dotty.

The place was good and plentiful- a fact that was clearly visible for them. The broad plain they were now on, a large plateau area at the very base of a great, scenic mountain range, had both the water and flora required for large herds of animals to live there. Animals that were lion food. Not paying attention to the piles of bones they were passing by from time to time, that could hint that there were indeed other carnivores around, the brothers decided that today they just had to hunt something. But what would it be? Zebras? Antelopes? Warthogs? Or maybe some other mountain creature that was unfamiliar to them?

Moto wandered. If they wanted to even begin a hunt, they first had to set up a strategy. And in order to do that, they needed to take a closer look around. In front of him the lion was seeing a large hill, partially planted with trees, but still good enough for a lookout point. He then directed his sight towards his twin brother.

-"Panya!" – he screamed. "Get over here. I've got something to tell you."

The second twin quickly turned his head from the tracks he was examining. He preferred to listen to Moto's orders, because he knew that his more edgy brother was still in a delicate mood after their failure in the jungle.

-"Coming!" – Panya cried out, making a few swift leaps before he halted in front of the significantly less enthusiastic lion. – "What is it, brother? Have you spotted something to eat?"

Moto gave him an irreverent gaze.

-"_Hmf_! Even if I had, you would have scared it away with your clumsy screaming, doofus. But no, I haven't seen anything. If we wanna fill up our bellies today, we need a safe place to snipe and stalk our pray. See that hill?"

He pointed with his paw and Panya shook his head.

-"That'll be our safe spot! It's high enough to take a good look at the area and pick ourselves a target, so later we can find a way to get close to it. I hope you still remember our hunting lessons, cause today I am determined to finally eat like a real lion!"

The twins both agreed at that point, so immediately they went out towards the hill. On the way, Moto decided that he was going to ascend it from the northern side, while Panya was to check out the south. So the lions separated, hoping that soon they would at least be able to plan a hunt. Frankly, they didn't have a lot of experience, and what they'd learned back at the Pridelands along with the lionesses was hardly enough to keep them alive. But there was one thing that the jungle had also taught them- it was to be very, very persistent.

Moto was wading between the trees. He'd had enough forests for a long time, but at the side of the hill he could at least see the sun in the sky, what was sometimes impossible in the jungle. And as he was going farther, he also got a good look at the plain below this side of the hill. There was a river there, flowing way from the high mountains, and by that river there was a herd of grazing gazelles. The poor unexpecting animals were now trapped between the depth of the water and the side of the hill, on which there lurked a hungry predator, observing them.

-"Oh, this is simply perfect…" – Moto purred to himself with content, feeling his mouth salivating. He took a minute to enjoy the sight of his prey before remembering that he now had to go and find his brother in order to start the hunt.

But then something bad happened.

Suddenly, a loud scream went above the area, reflecting from the surface of the mountains. Moto frowned, seeing how his target gazelles freezed for half a second… and then took off startled, running in the opposite direction.

-"No… No. No! NO! My FOOD! Where is it going?" – the lion yelped with despair. Turned his head towards where the screaming came from, he felt as is the voice was disturbingly familiar to him.

-"Panya… you better _not_ have gotten yourself into trouble…" – he growled.

Then, cautiously deciding to act with haste, Moto turned around and ran towards the southern side of the hill. It didn't take much time before he was looking from between the trees at the great commotion that was taking place below him. At first he hoped that maybe those were the sounds of his brother attempting to foolishly start a hunt on his own, but no- there was indeed a pursuit, but it were many small animals chasing a single bigger one. Hyenas chasing a lion. A young, black-maned lion.

-"Panya!" – Moto roared ragefully, not sure if he should be more mad at the hyenas or at his brother.

With a few forceful leaps he charged down the hill, deciding to face the pursuers and at least try to get them off Panya's tail. The other twin, visibly happy that he managed to come across him, quickly hid behind his back. Moto stood firmly in front of their attackers with bared fangs and growled, counting. It were ten hyenas against two lions, so the odds were against them. Good thing that Panya quickly snapped out of his shock and stood beside his brother also trying to look as aggressive as he could, or else the vicious scavengers might have not hesitated. Hyenas usually didn't attack and kill lions, but if they were hungry, they always lost their mind, especially if the target was an easy one.

Two young lions still made them halt, observe and orbit around, trying to surround their prey if possible. The twin lions felt the raising pressure. Until recently, they always came across hyenas as allies, members of Scar's army… and now they were to be _eaten_ by them? Oh no, both of them knew that they definitely weren't going to give up without a fight. Moto followed every circling hyena with his bloodshot eyes, trying to estimate whether if he should wait for their move or attack himself… and then he noticed that one of them did not seem hostile at all. It just sat at the ground, grinning, looking straight at him and his brother.

-"Wait…" – Moto said, and then smiled himself. – "I know that ugly face…"

As the lion made a few steps forward, leaving his brother alone, Panya gazed at him, not having a clue about what was exactly going on. Moto approached the leading hyena and instead of attacking him, he started… greeting him as if they were old friends! The second lion strained his eyes in disbelief, noticing that indeed, these hyenas looked kind of familiar also to him…

-"Riko! What are you and your stinking band doing so far away from the Pridelands?" – said Moto, sitting in front of the animal, relief and surprise present in his expression.

-"_Hmf_, same question could be asked 'bout you and your lil' brother, kid."

Now, hearing the hyena's name and the sound of his voice, Panya knew everything. Old Riko had been the patriarch of Scar's hyena army before the twins were exiled. Now it seemed that also the other inhabitants of the Pridelands had to leave. And chance wanted them to go in the same direction. Moto and Panya desperately wanted to know just how and why did the hyenas travel all the way to the mountains. Riko just smiled at them mischievously, saying that he 'wasn't authorized to reveal such information without the consent of the Lion King'. The brothers asked if that mysterious 'Lion King' was Scar, thinking that maybe their grandfather decided to relocate with the whole pride because of another drought or something. But Riko turned his head laughing along with his comrades and said that soon they would see for themselves.

He then sent out two of his subordinates to fetch this so-called 'Lion King'. After a few minutes, the hyenas returned with a young, strong-looking lion, who was the owner of a fairly handsome, goldish mane.

-"Moto, Panya- meet our new leader…" – Riko uttered with a sneer. The rest of the soldiers bowed their heads, but as they did that baring their fangs and giggling silently, the brothers thought that they were mocking the lion rather than honoring him. Himself he looked… well, quite timid, despite his strong appearance. Actually, Moto and Panya thought that the hyenas were the ones who were his leaders.

-"Welcome, my friends" – said the feline slowly and awkwardly, as if he was weighing every word he spoke. - "It's… not very often that we see other lions around here. Uh, anyway, my name is Jela. I'm… the alpha male around here…"

After he said those words, the hyenas just let go of their restrain and burst out laughing, to the supposed king's embarrassment. He seemed to know that he was being ridiculed, but not able to do anything about it.

-"Well we're pleased to meet you, your highness!" – Panya exclaimed, content to finally see another member of his own species. But then his brother looked at him communicatively. Moto was very suspicious of the whole situation. It all looked ridiculous to him and he wanted answers.

-"Hold on there, everybody. Okay, mister 'Jela'. If you're the king here, then tell us- where's your pride? You are a _lion _king, aren't you? And since your 'subjects' are familiar to us, I guess that maybe we have more common acquaintances than just these hyenas. Tell me, 'your majesty'- does the name 'Scar' sound familiar to you?"

Once again Jela started to sweat hearing the laughter of his surrounding troops.

-"_Uh…_" – he mumbled. "No, I… I don't think so. I don't know you and I have no idea how come you and the hyenas are familiar to each other. Frankly, I don't think that I will be able to give you any answers…"

Moto became irritated hearing the lion's hesitation. The image of a king that he had knowing his grandfather was somewhat more confident and firm.

-"Listen here, you big pushover" – he growled, making the 'king' retreat with fear. – "Our names are Moto and Panya and we demand you to explain this whole pathetic circus to us! We came here from the Pridelands and we know that these soldiers of yours who laugh at your reign from the moment they brought you here also came from our homeland, and it couldn't have been very long ago too. So you better explain to us what the hell happened, cause we know you know that. And if you don't, my brother and I are going to be _really _upset!"

Observing as Moto bared his fangs in front of his face, Jela felt shivers going down his spine. Then he took a look at the other twin. Panya was just sitting at the ground gazing at them passionlessly, obviously used to his brother's edgy behavior.

-"_Err…_" – the lion tried out for another awkward smile. – "You know what? I better just take you to my mate… The Queen, that is. I bet she would…"

-"Wrong answer, Goldie-Locks!" – Moto uttered, leaping straight at the frightened king. He was about to do something more, but then he heard growling hyenas all around and Riko addressing him with a demanding tone.

-"Leave his highness alone, kid. You're right, enough of the circus. If you don't hurt him, I promises you'll know the truth sooner than you think."

Seeing that further hostility might be dangerous, Moto decided to let go of the strange lion. Irritated, he observed as Panya started his typical squealing of concern.

-"Oh Riko, why are you playing games with us? Why don't you just tell us what happened to our pride? Is everyone okay? And who is this supposed 'king', anyway? He looks more like your prisoner to me."

As he said that, the goldish lion slowly lifted up from the ground and lowered his head in humiliation.

-"Pathetic… didn't even protect himself…" – Moto hissed.

The hyena patriarch adopted a serious expression.

-"Alright you two. Let's give ol' Jela here a break and take you to someone who really _can _help you. Follow me, boys. The Queen is expecting you."

But when he turned around, Moto stood in his way, growling angrily.

-"We've had enough of your games, Riko! We won't make a single step before you tell us what is going on!"

The hyena grinned.

-"Temper, temper. I promise you'll find all the answers you want… _if _you follow me."

Then Moto roared right into his face, his strong masculine voice echoing among the mountain peaks, sending shivers down the hyenas' and the lion king's spines.

-"I don't like that sneer on your snout…" – he uttered.

-"_Uh_… Brother… Maybe we should listen? They're our _allies,_ remember? Scar's old army. We don't want to fight them…" – Panya tried to get on the other twin's mind, approaching him with an insecure expression. It might have looked like fear, but the lion was only trying to be reasonable in his own way- they were both on foreign territory and they couldn't be sure about what or who could they run into.

-"You better listen to your bro, kid. Trust me, you won't regret it." – said Riko, still smiling.

And so the two brothers followed the hyenas along with Jela. They were walking inside a picturesque valley, placed between two mountain ranges. The land, moisturized by the many crystal-clear streams, was fertile and full of strange plant life. Moto and Panya were sure that there were also many plant eaters here along with that- what meant lots of food for carnivores. After some time they started going uphill, entering a rocky plateau that was showing clear signs of the presence of predators. Or at least a big band of carrion eaters.

-"We're getting close to our new home." – Riko said to them as they were approaching a big rocky wall- the side of one of the mountains. The wall was cracked, it's fracture creating a big, dark cave. At the entrance to it, Moto and Panya saw other hyenas… Whole of Scar's old army. When the animals noticed who came to visit them, they all stood up and howled with joy. Also the twins had to admit to being quite happy about seeing someone they'd known before, even if they were only hyenas.

But what did their presence mean? Why were they here? Had they left the Pridelands on their own? In that case, who was this supposed 'Lion King' and 'Lion Queen'? The questions appearing in their minds were simply countless.

As they sat in front of the entrance to the cave, Jela turned towards them.

-"I have to go inform my mate about your arrival" – he said. – "She's pregnant, so she stays in our den most of the time, but I suppose she will find a minute to talk to you."

Then he entered the shade of the lair. Moto and Panya waited with excitement, surrounded by the cohorts of smiling hyenas. At first there wasn't a single sound that came from inside the cave, but after a minute the brothers noticed a shape of a lioness, slowly appearing in front of them. Her stertorus silent laughter was turned up by the echo behind her back. Inch by inch, her figure emerged from among the darkness. Her fur was brownish beige, her eyes were as blue as the sky above… and she had a long tuft of hair above her forehead.

In front of them stood their aunt, Vitani. This time the army of hyenas bowed their heads in true submission. The twins were as shocked as possible.

-"_Hm-hm_, I see that Nuka's legacy lives on…" – she addressed them in that familiar, mischievous tone of hers. – "You boys are definitely more than your ignorant mother gave you credit for."

-"Aunt Vitani!" – the lions shouted simultaneously, not sure if they should be happy from this encounter or not. – "What are you doing here?"

The lioness snorted, smiling.

-"_Hmf_! Now I should probably say- _I was just gonna ask you the same thing. _Oh, just come here, you two…"

She hugged her nephews with sincere sympathy. It had been a long time since she'd abandoned her family, and despite having the hyenas and her 'Lion King' always around, she was beginning to feel lonely. Moto and Panya were also very happy to find a family member so far from their home, and they were simply dying to hear what had happened. Vitani ordered Jela and their soldiers to go get them something to eat, and so the time of storytelling began.

The lioness said that all of this calling her mate and her the 'Lion King and Queen' was nothing more than just a joke of the hyenas. Later, to the twins' amazement, she told them all about the events concerning Scar and Zira's death, Kovu's visit to the Pridelands, the agreement he'd made with his dying father, the Outsiders' reunion with the lions from the Pridelands, and finally, about Simba taking the throne and the mutiny connected with that fact. Vitani revealed to them everything about the promise she had given to Zira, and also how she broke it. She told them about her plan to get rid of the threat of the hyena army by leading them far away from the pride and towards the mountains, and how she'd achieved it. She also admitted that she had no idea about what was going on in the Pridelands anymore.

Vitani was now a hyena queen, the top cat in this mountain area. She finally told her nephews about another pride of lions that had lived there before- a group consisting almost solely of lionesses, with only one strong, young and good-looking male. Vitani said that she'd lead the hyenas in an assault that scared the females away to the other side of the valley, leaving the hunting grounds for the hyenas to rule, the comfortable cave for her to inhabit… and also that pride's alpha male to be her 'lucky' mate.

Yes, that lion was Jela. Vitani just laughed maliciously, remembering how she'd 'won' his love. When he got back with the hyenas, dragging a few mountain goats for their evening meal, she nuzzled him with true passion and gratitude- emotions that she seldom used to show earlier, as well as Moto and Panya could remember. The lion returned her caress stiffly, making an awkward smile and then lying down on the ground in order to let his mate finish talking to her nephews. Vitani said that she now bore Jela's cub and that when born, it would become a little prince of hyenas. He brothers had probably never seen their aunt so happy before.

Finishing her story, she demanded them to tell her their own. Abashed, the twins said that there wasn't very much to tell stories about. They swiftly reviewed their failed trip to the jungle, how they left it disappointed and headed towards the mountains, ending up with coming across Riko and his band. And that was it, frankly.

Observing them closely, lying comfortably at her side in order not to harm the little lion cub in her belly, Vitani asked the brothers if they had any idea about what was going to happen to them now. Moto and Panya looked at each other. They said that, honestly, they had no idea. Their aunt said that she could let them stay with her, Jela and the hyenas for a while. That there they would be safe and always have enough to eat. But then she gave them another long, meditative gaze.

-"_Hm… _I don't think that this would be the best option for you two." – she hummed. – "Nah, you boys can't stay here forever. You need a pride of your own. Yeah, a pride…"

Still wondering, she pointed her eyes towards her mate. Jela had his eyes closed and was probably fast asleep from the strain of another hunt. His sight gave the lioness an idea.

-"Listen here, guys. I'm not going to force you or anything, but let me give you a little hint. I'm feeling kind of bad for stealing Jela away from his pride. He and I have been getting along pretty well, but sometimes he still keeps whining about his _poor lionesses_, left alone and without a male guardian or leader. You might wanna check out these lonely females… I suppose they haven't moved very far away. My scouts told me that they caught their track somewhere on the other side of the valley. As I said, I'm not going to make you do anything, it's your choice, but let me tell you this- there's a pretty nice little pride of lionesses not far away. And I've seen them- most of them are young and in _desperate _need for a mate. But you'll do whatever you please. Take the night to think about it."

And so, as it was already late in the evening, the lions all laid to sleep inside Vitani's cave. At the brake of dawn, Moto and Panya were ready for their trip, convinced and excited to meet their new _friends_ as soon as possible.

-"But are you gonna be okay over here, aunt Vitani?" – Panya asked as they were getting ready to move off. The lioness snorted.

-"_Puh! _And have I ever _not _been okay, kid? Don't worry, I have Jela, Riko and a whole army of hyenas right here at my side. Right, Jela?"

She laughed, tackling her mate at the side.

-"_Heh-heh_. Right, Tani…" – again, the 'Lion King's face was covered with an awkward smile.

-"Well then, so long everyone!" – said Panya, delivering his goodbye. – "It was really good to see ya again, despite the circumstances. You wish us luck!"

-"We do boys, we do. You come visit your aunt in a coupe of months, you hear me? I want you to meet your little cousin as soon as he is born… or she. Or whatever, you get the point."

The twins observed as the pair of lions waved at them smiling, surrounded by their faithful hyenas who's howls echoed among the peaks. And then they went on for another journey, hoping that at least this time it would lead them to a happy conclusion of their exile.

The sun hasn't even hid itself behind the mountain tops before they crossed the valley, finding the first tracks of a lonely pride of lionesses, waiting for them somewhere nearby.

THE END

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, this is really it.<strong>

**In this additional chapter, I paid a little more tribute to the TLK story's most interesting pair of siblings- to the mischievous tomboy Vitani and to her 'special' brother, Nuka. Well, Nuka is long dead, unfortunately (if you want to know something more about him from when he was alive, you can check out my other story, called 'Nukas test'), but why should that sentence him to oblivion? So I wrote a continuation to the tale of my characters, Moto and Panya, Nuka and Dotty's twin sons. There's a good perspective in front of them now, isn't it? **

**And also Vitani, the Hyena Queen, _finally_ managed to find herself a suitable mate (in her own special way) and is now happily pregnant. A good conclusion to almost 70 pages of story, ey?**

**So I hope you liked it. Once again- thanks for reading and for everything else. I hope you'll all have a good, peaceful and happy Easter.**

**Hallelujah! XD**


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